Placement Tutors / Placement Officers placement risk indicator
This is a simple tick-list that will assist you in assessing the health and safety standards of
placements. The capability of individual students should always be factored in when
considering whether to approve the health and safety arrangements of a placement provider.
The idea is that ticks in green boxes are positive indicators for low or controlled hazards;
ticks in white boxes are potential areas for concern that may need further evaluation.
Q.
YES NO
1.
Will the student be working within the United Kingdom?
2.
Will their placement be office/classroom based?
3.
Has the company returned satisfactory answers to your health and
safety questionnaire?
If all the above questions receive YES answers, the placement is likely to be a LOW
HAZARD placement. Satisfactory answers to the standard health and safety questionnaire
for employers will normally provide sufficient assurance about the health and safety
provision of the company.
If any of the questions above receive NO answers:
Q.
YES
4.
Do you know of or recognise this company (e.g. a Public Liability
Company, large multinational, large charity of international renown)?
5.
Has the University successfully placed students with this company before?
Does student feedback suggest that health and safety matters are suitably
managed?
6.
Are the activities the student will be engaging in generally recognised as
low hazard activities?
7.
Has the company provided documentary evidence that it has risk
assessed any significant hazards and that it has appropriate control
measures in place?
8.
Is the country the student will be working in generally regarded as a ‘safe’
country? (Use FCO information as an indicator)
NO
If all these questions receive YES answers, the placement can be regarded as LOW
HAZARD unless there are other reasons that come to light that may suggest that further
questions are appropriate.
(An example of an area of concern might be that an otherwise reputable company had
recently had a high-profile incident e.g. major fire or explosion.)
If any of these questions receive NO answers, you may need to ask further questions which
should be proportionate to the type of work and to other knowledge you have about the
region where the student will be working.
Further questions may include:
Q.
9.
YES NO
Does the FCO web site refer to any country hazards that could significantly
increase the personal risk to the student (e.g. possibility of civil unrest,
increased likelihood of personal attack, etc.).
10. If YES, are there control measures in place to mitigate the hazards?
11.
Are there likely to be significant hazards arising from the proposed work
that will need to be controlled?
If YES, does the placement provider indicate that they have suitable
control measures in place? Will the control measures be communicated to
12.
the student and are you satisfied that they will receive adequate
supervision?
13.
Are there likely to be significant difficulties communicating with the student
on a day-to-day basis?
14.
If YES, can the student make arrangements to mitigate the difficulties?
(e.g. by use of internet café or other local arrangement).
15. Are there likely to be difficulties with transport e.g. in an emergency?
16. If YES, can local arrangements be made to mitigate the difficulties?
If any of these questions cannot be answered satisfactorily, the placement should not be
approved until further advice or information has been obtained. Contact University Health,
Safety and Environment uhse@lists.bath.ac.uk