AB
19.6.2013
Author
Deadline for submission to Clerk
Date received by the Clerk
PAPER J.4
Ms M Kanwar, Director of Occupational Health and
Safety
30 May 2013
30 May 2013
TITLE OF PAPER/REPORT
1
PURPOSE
Health and Safety Annual Report 2012
2
SYNOPSIS
This report provides an overview of the activities relating to the Occupational Health and Safety Office and
safety statistics from May 2012 to May 2013.
3
RISK ANALYSIS
To increase monitoring of fire safety going forward due to an increase in construction activity and a change
of management of Halls of residence provider at the College Lane campus.
4
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Board are asked to note the report
UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE UNIVERSITY
1.
Introduction
May 2013
This report covers the period from May 2012 to May 2013. It provides the Board of Governors with an overview of
monitoring activities across the institution to drive safety engagement across the University. This includes
statistical data on training, accidents (for 2012) and fire safety.
One main focus for the office this year has been to realign local safety management to the post agile structure at
UH and a safety assurance audit of the UH companies.
2.
Changes to Safety Team and Professional Development of Advisers
The office is going through a period of staff change. By using a consultant and specialist trainers where possible we
have been able to maintain a good level of advisory support and continue with important projects.
UH are already seeing benefits from the investment in competence development of the School Safety leads/contacts
who provide frontline advice on specific School related issues to their staff and students. They are supported and
mentored by the Safety team.
I am part of a sector working group reviewing UCEA sector guidance on management of safety for University’s.
One final change this year will be the retirement of Teresa Benjamin, the Occupational Health Nurse Adviser in
July 2013 who has been part of the team for 12 years and would like to note her contribution to the University in
Occupational Health.
3.
Safety Development and Training
Main training/development highlights for 2012/13 have been:1.
2.
3.
4.
Post Agile line managers briefings
IOSH managing safely
Development of School Safety Officers and leads
Development of a toolkit on influencing and leading safety across UH.
UH now have over 60 line managers trained to IOSH managing safely which is an accredited and nationally
recognised safety qualification that provides a good basic knowledge and competence level.
1/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
The team are always looking at new ways to approach traditional generic training. A recent example of this is a
new training approach for manual handling activities. We have invested in an online course which provides the
legal requirements and basic manual handling principles after which a local School specialist can provide more
customised training/briefing on the particular needs of the SBU e.g. moving lab equipment, or moving computer
equipment based on the manual handling aids they use in their areas. This will allow SBUs to reinforce good
manual handling techniques in situ. This approach will be more effective and less time intensive than generic 3
hour sessions which may not fit the needs of the individual or team. It is also in keeping with current thinking on
behavioural safety and effectiveness of manual handling training.
The intention is to use these trainers as a ‘pool’ of trainers to help out once or twice a year for generic (office manual
handling) training sessions when required.
I consider this an effective way of training/development and we will look at how this principal can be used for other
safety areas.
We have also developed a tool kit to support senior managers to lead and influence on safety within their area. The
initial feedback from HSCC has been very positive. A short briefing will sit alongside this which will be aligned to IOSH
directing safely. The intention going forward will be to look at accreditation of this session alongside other courses to
the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
4.
Enforcing Authority Update
Table 1 below represents the number of visits from the enforcing authorities over 2012/13
Enforcing
Authority
Chemical
Weapons
Authority
Fire Service Visits
Date
Jan 2013
Reason for visit/communication
Submission
1. General familiarisation and update on
fire alarm response procedures for UH.
2012/13
2. Familiarisation of areas impacted by
College Lane phase 1
Current Status
Complete
On-going visits and
communications.
2012/13
Visits in relation to College Lane phase
1 and the Science building.
On-going communications
Environment
Agency Inspection
October
2012
Compliance with Environmental
Permitting regulations –
A thorough review of the management
documents and local procedures took
place.
Good Assurance from the
EA on compliance to the
permit conditions.
Post Agile changes to
documents needed.
Environment
Agency Visit
October
2012
New Permit Application - Bio Park
New permit received
May 2013
New Permit
Possibly 2013/14
Fire Safety Unit
Anticipated for 2013/14
Environment
Agency Visit
5.
Summer
2013
Agile
Impacts of agile on the management of health and safety were related to the realignment of the safety structures that
were originally in place at Faculty level and mapping them to each School. This has meant:








At organisational level revisiting our Policy and some of our documentation
Developing statements on safety for job descriptions
Bite size training sessions for line managers
One to one meetings with each Dean to advise on roles and responsibilities
Advise on expectations of local safety management arrangements
Identification of School Safety contacts/leads
Development of a skills and mentoring schedule for the School Safety contacts/leads
Development of risk profiling for each School
2/12
AB
19.6.2013


PAPER J.4
Reviewing processes which have mainly been manual and should now be brought in line with current
technology, so that safety can be managed effectively e.g. accident reporting.
Looking at ways of providing information in a manner that Deans and Senior managers can monitor and
measure their safety performance at a glance.
Table 3 below illustrates the current status for safety structures across the Schools and Estates
School
H&S Risk Register &
ACTION PLAN
2012/13 focus on
higher risk SBUs
H&S lead
Some Schools
may have
other staff.
H&S
Management
Structure
H&S Inspections
Programme 2013
H&S
incidents
REPORTING
PROCESS
FIRST
AIDERS
DSE
Assessors
Estates
Yes

Agreed




Business School
Generic Risks

Discussed
Incorporated in to
Fire Risk
Assessment



Life & Medical
Sciences
In progress

Agreed




Health & Social
In progress

Agreed




Education
Generic Risks

Agreed



Law
Generic Risks

Agreed



Humanities
Generic Risks

Agreed



Engineering
Awaiting date

Agreed




Creative Arts
Awaiting date

Agreed



x
Computer Science
Generic Risks

Agreed
Incorporated in to
Fire Risk
Assessment



PAM
Awaiting date

Agreed



x
6
Incorporated in to
Fire Risk
Assessment
Incorporated in to
Fire Risk
Assessment
Incorporated in to
Fire Risk
Assessment
University Health and Safety Consultation
The HSCC met three times over the course of the year, providing an opportunity for consultation on University-wide
activities with staff representatives and recognised trade unions, and to review and discuss the work of the
Occupational Health and Safety Office.
Consultation also takes place in individual academic schools and professional SBUs. This allows for more detailed
discussion on particular health and safety risks associated with specific areas, but also enables discussion and followup of accidents related to these areas, so that more attention can be provided on local monitoring on safety.
The University Radiation committee met in January and an update to all appropriate staff will be organised for the
summer. Biological Safety Committee has now been incorporated into the LMS safety committee structure.
3/12
AB
19.6.2013
7
Audit Activities
a.
Liquid Nitrogen usage across UH and reviewing safety practices
PAPER J.4
A full audit of liquid Nitrogen usage at UH was undertaken this year. The audit was based around the Medical
Research Council (MRC) guidance on liquid nitrogen for life-science applications and other industry specific guidance.
Findings throughout the audit have been remedied and over the next year a review will take place to ensure all
controls are being maintained.
b.
UH Company Safety assurance audit
A safety assurance audit was undertaken of seven of the UH Holdings companies. The audit examined standards of
health and safety within these companies. Each audit was taken to the appropriate board and an overview report
submitted to UH Holdings. Each company was provided with an action plan. They were required to agree a response
and timings for resolution. See Appendix 1 for current status.
8
Safety Statistics
a.
Training & Development
The graph (Fig 1) illustrates safety training data comparing 2012/13 to last year 2011/2012. A total of 847 attendees in
2012/13 of which 34 sessions were face to face safety training compared to 751 attendees of which 48 sessions were
face to face in 2011/12. The courses that have been undertaken are split into categories (see Table 2). The specialist
courses vary from year to year and are customised to the needs at the time by different Schools, which may be
highlighted through inspections, SBU planning round, or guided by external drivers such as new sector guidance.
Fig. 1: Graphical representation of safety training data Comparing 2011/2012 with 2012/2013 data.
4/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Table 2: Illustrates the categories used to group safety courses run by the team.
Category
Courses within the categories.
Online Module














The Health and Safety Online
Student Induction
Student Risk Assessment (GTR)
Corporate Induction
Senior Manager Induction
First Aid Awareness
Defibrillator
3 day First Aid at Work
2 day First Aid at Work Requalification
Fire Warden
Fire Marshal
Fire Safety for Managers
Manual Handling
DSE Assessor








Bespoke Safety Training for Schools
COSHH
Risk Assessment
Emergency Plan
General Risk Management
NEBOSH
Biosafety Awareness
HSCC Workshop
Student Focused
Induction
First Aid
Fire Safety
Ergonomic
Specialist
b.









HSCC Training for Members
Management Conference
Safety Awareness
Safety Inspection
IOSH Managing Safely
Overseas
PAT
Gas Cylinder Safety
Cryogenic Gas Safety
Accidents and Incidents
In 2012 there were 5 accidents to staff members that were reportable to the HSE under the RIDDOR regulations.
Graphs below illustrate the total number of accidents to staff; total reportable accidents to staff and show a breakdown of
the two highest categories of injuries that occurred to staff over the last 5 calendar years (see Fig 2).
Also illustrated below are the University of Hertfordshire’s staff statistics compared with UK Universities’ benchmark
statistics from the University Safety and Health Association (USHA) over 5 years for reportable accidents (see Fig 3).
The sector statistics going forward will now be organised and submitted to the Higher Education Statistics Agency
(HESA). The first submission will be for 2012/13 and subsequent years. The data will be submitted in the Estate
Management HESA return in early 2014. There may be some overlap in reporting next year to the board.
Fig. 2
5/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Fig. 3
Graphs (Fig 4 and 5) below illustrate the total number of accidents to students, total reportable accidents to students,
and show a breakdown of the accidents that occurred to students during their teaching and learning activities over the
last 5 calendar years (see Fig. 4).
Also illustrated below are the University of Hertfordshire’s student statistics compared with UK Universities’ benchmark
statistics over 5 years for reportable accidents (see Fig. 5).
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
6/12
AB
19.6.2013
c.
PAPER J.4
Fire Statistics
Fig 6 and 7 illustrate the fire statistics for 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 for Halls of Residence and other buildings for
UH. They are compared with sector statistics. Definitions of the categories are in Appendix 2.
Malicious Activations There has been a drop in Malicious Activations within the Halls of Residence. We continue
to work with other stakeholders to reduce these figures (Fig 6). Reduction to malicious
activations has been seen through interventions such alarm boxes over the manual call
points.
Near Miss Incidents
The most common cause of near miss incidents are burnt food due to students wedging
open kitchen doors and therefore allowing smoke to infiltrate from the kitchen into
communal areas. This is a sector wide problem and there is a USHA fire working party
looking at other control measures to tackle this. We are monitoring this closely with the
Dean of Students office and Estates.
Fig. 6
7/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Fig. 7
9
Occupational Health
Core OH services:
Figure 8 shows the core services for 2012 and gives a percentage comparison of the use of each service. Figure 9 looks at the use
of the services over the past 3 years.
This data show variations in the various categories especially in the referrals and training where the numbers continue to
increase.
Fig. 8
Core services for 2012
Referrals
14%
Training
9%
Health Surveillance
2%
Health Interviews
12%
Assessment
7%
Paper Screening
56%
8/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Fig. 9
Seasonal Flu vaccination programme
Free seasonal flu vaccination was offered to all staff for the fourth year running. A total of four sessions were held
and 590 staff were successfully vaccinated. There is more than 20% uptake of this service which is comparable
with the national trend.
Wellbeing
OH provided both opportunistic and planned wellbeing activities this included OH physiotherapy, office chair
massage, and reflexology and laughter workshop (See Fig 10). Occupational Health have been involved in the UH
wellbeing group and were part of the organising group for the wellbeing fair held in October 2012 (see photo below)
this launched the UH Wellbeing framework and Wellbeing Wednesdays programme for the year.
9/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Fig. 10
Appointments
Wellbeing Activities in OH
271
259
249
55
50
Activities
10
Forward Look for the Office







To formalise the safety risk profile and support Schools to develop their own safety risk profiles.
To continue development of School safety management structures post Agile.
Roll out new accident reporting process.
Continue the development of tools, training and e-learning to enable Schools to manage safety more
independently
Continue the development of competence of School safety contacts.
To work closely with Estates on the 2020 Vision
Hosting USHA conference 2014. For further info please see www.USHA.org.uk
May I take the opportunity to thank Philip Waters, Secretary and Registrar for chairing the HSCC for the last 5 years
and also his leadership on safety at OVC level.
Monica Kanwar, BSc, MSc, PgD, MISTR, CMIOSH, MEPS
Director of Occupational Health and Safety
May 2013
10/12
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Appendix 1: Company action plan
Action Plan Response Received by Director
of H&S. Progress to be monitored by
board.
Points for discussion with
companies with Director of H&S
RIDDOR reporting by
CH responsible for liaising with EHO on
Food Safety.
UH Safety will support CH with HSE or Fire
Safety visits.
UH SAFETY TEAM-Agreed
Companies
Units within companies
UH Ventures
Conference Hertfordshire (CH)
Fielder Centre and Club
Dehavilland.
Yes
UH Pharmacy , Biodet,
Not audited
They would report through academic School.
N/A
Not received
Evaluate must identify someone responsible for
safety within the company.
Evalu8
Polyfield property
UH SAFETY TEAM – Agreed PART OF SCHOOL
Assumption to use UH Safety advice.
SPORTS VILLAGE
Need a mechanism to have
oversight of RIDDORs and
other accidents.
Sport Village - operational
sports village
Yes- reporting direct to PP board on progress.
Innovation Centre – tenant
Yes- reporting direct to PP board on progress.
Documentation collation for each tenant – expected
end of Nov 2012.
BioPark
Yes- reporting direct to Exemplas board on progress
Request update from board
Exemplas- for their staff.
Clarification for tenants
Yes – reporting direct to UNO board
UNO must identify someone who will act as a safety
officer permanently.
Awaiting for appointment of Safety Officer.
Currently by UH – when
UNO provide information.
Exemplas
UNO
Director of sports has been sent a generic
SLA to be discussed.
TO AGREE ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR
SAFETY
Clarification on tenants
Monitoring by UH Holdings
Low- progress to be monitored by company board and
assurance given to Director of Health and Safety
High – no action plan
Board action needed
11/12
Medium – regular updates needed from company board on
progress.
AB
19.6.2013
PAPER J.4
Appendix 2 – Fire Statistics definitions
Definitions
There are 3 parts to the definition of a fire incident.
 Major Fire Incident – an incident involving smoke, heat and flames causing property damage to multiple
building fixtures or fittings.
 Minor Fire Incident – an incident involving smoke, heat and flames causing only localised damage to
equipment or property.
 Near Miss Fire Incident – an incident involving only smoke, without flames, which may or may not cause
damage.
Examples of near miss fire incidents:
 Some cooking incidents, which are restricted to burnt food, pans boiling dry, etc. generating smoke but
no flames and/or damage but prompts occupants to operate a call point or actuation of the fire alarm.
 An overheating fluorescent tube capacitor causing sufficient smoke to prompt occupants to operate a
call point, but with virtually no damage occurring beyond the capacitor.
Kitchen fires
These are fires which occur in either halls of residence/accommodation (self-catered and catered) and in
academic buildings.
External fires
This is a fire (see definition of a fire above) which occurs outside of buildings but within the boundaries of
the university or its property. When providing data on the total number of fires, external fires must be
included. However do not include external fires in the total number of fire alarm activations, unless the fire
alarm system in a building was activated as a direct result of that incident.
Malicious alarms
A deliberate improper actuation of a fire alarm system, e.g. hitting break glass
False activations
This is when a fire alarm system is activated by actuation of a detector, device or accidental manual call
point resulting in the sounding of the fire alarm in a building which is not a fire incident. False activations
include:
 false alarm with good intent (where someone raises the alarm in the belief there is a fire in the building),
 equipment defects causing activations, e.g. faulty detector head
 environmental conditions, e.g. dust due to contractors or steam from showers
12/12