Health and Safety
Executive
Expectations of the
Enforcing Authority
Katie Dunlop MSc BSc (Hons)
HM Inspector of Health and
Safety
HSE: Strategy
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New HSE strategy
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Workplace fatalities fell last year to 180
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Several thousand still dying prematurely from
work-related diseases
Increasing culture of risk aversion
“To prevent death, injury and ill health to those at
work and those affected by work activities”
23 fatalities in Scotland
Over 100,000 employees still suffer serious
injuries every year
Leadership
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Fundamental in the governance of health
and safety culture
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Leaders in organisations
Leaders in your own specialist area
Take ownership of issues
Win management attention
Money talks!
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Health and Safety can be seen as an
expense that can be done without
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Can be seen as bureaucracy and burden
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Improvements in costs, productivity and
reputation
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Can increase moral and productivity and
reduce absences and staff turnover
Reality health and safety makes good
business sense
Leadership
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Not just from the top down
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Health and safety has high profile at
Edinburgh University
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Can be a challenge to enable everyone to
play own part
Bottom up can be more effective
Everyone must understand own
responsibilities
Competence
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Health and Safety training
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Best results are where health and safety integrated within
all aspects of your role not simply as something that has to
be done
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Relevant to task each person is performing
Not expecting you all to be health and safety experts
First line of defence
Role to build competence throughout the University as a
whole
Clear on responsibilities to take care of own health and
safety
Accountability
• Everyone has a role
• Everyone responsible
• Everyone accountable
• Responsibility to manage risks lies
with those that create it
Proportionality
• Focusing on the risks that matter
• Not about paperwork, about
proper work
• Many health and safety myths:
HSE ban throwing mortar boards at
Graduation Ceremonies!
Lord Young Report
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www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/lordyoung/index.htm
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Refocus on managing workplace risks
Welcomed by HSE
Important milestone for reputation of real health
and safety
Often used as a convenient excuse to hide
behind
Proportionality
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What does this mean in University sector
Identify real and serious risks
Two major causes of ill health and injury
in education sector are work-related
stress and slips and trips
Stress
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Work-related stress costs society £4
billion and over 13 million working days
each year
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Management Standards introduced in
2004
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Provide framework for managing stress
6 key areas: change, relationships,
support, roles, control and demands
Slips and Trips
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Slips and trips account for 60% of serious
injuries at estimated cost of £49 million a
year
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Shattered lives campaign
Online e-Learning Package - STEP
Includes specific course for those working
in education sector
Proportionality
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Understanding of risk is core life skill
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Applies to all departments
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Lot of work now underway to bring health
and safety into mainstream education
curriculum
Need to embed this basic understanding
in the curriculum
Young people more risk naïve than 20
years ago
Conclusion
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Three relevant pillars of HSE strategy:
– Leadership
– Accountability
– Proportionality
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Including the themes of:
– Competence
– Training
– Learning
Conclusion
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It’s not rocket science!
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Thank you
Strategies only work if they make sense
and result in real action on the ground
Any questions