University of Dublin Trinity College Safety Statement
To each employee, contractor, visitor, and student
The policy of the University of Dublin, Trinity College with regard to Safety, Health and Welfare is as set out in this statement. The means to achieve that policy is also stated. All interested parties are asked to comment as to improvement and review. It is important to note that the College Safety Statement is always in draft format, being a constantly evolving and changing document, however, the basic safety management principles, in general, will
remain the same.
The Policy
The University of Dublin, Trinity College is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all its employees, contractors, students and visitors.
SIGNED______
Ms. Geraldine Ruane, Chief Operating Officer
DATE______
In order to provide such an environment and to achieve the policy the following structures are in place:
SAFETY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES
RISK REDUCTION PROGRAMME
CONSULTATION PROCESS
SAFETY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Ultimate responsibility for Safety, Health and Welfare rests with the Board of the College. The Board of the College includes, among others, the following individuals:
• The Provost of the College – Dr Patrick Prendergast
• The Vice Provost of the College – Professor Linda Hogan
• Registrar – Professor Shane Allwright
• Secretary to the College – Mr. John Coman
A College Safety Officer has also been appointed to assist College with the planning, implementation and monitoring of measures aimed at improving the standards of health and safety in College. The College Safety Officer is Mr. Tom Merriman.
Persons responsible for implementing the Health and Safety policy:
The Board understands and accepts its ultimate responsibility for Health and Safety. It exercises this control through the normal administrative structures and in accordance with the following procedures:
Heads of Schools, Disciplines & Administrative Areas
Senior members of staff (usually Heads of Departments) have been assigned the role of being the Head of specific buildings functions, actions, areas, units or Departments. They are responsible for implementing and maintaining College Health and Safety policy and procedures in their areas, as far as is reasonably practicable, given the resources allocated by Board. These Heads of Departments have been granted full responsibility and control over their specified buildings or areas. Within shared buildings, Heads of Departments carry control for the space allocated to their Departments equitably and severally. Within individual rooms the most senior member of staff or person nominated, carries similar control for the room when occupied. Day to day management of the policy within Departments or areas can be further delegated to individual persons if a specific role or action is required.
The individuals as named in Appendix 1 have therefore been identified as being responsible for safety health and welfare management in their respective Departments and areas. They are the Heads of their respective Departments and are expected to name a deputy to act on their behalf in their absence. Specific duties of Heads of Departments in relation to safety management are outlined in Appendix 2.
Where an overlap exists and responsibility is unclear, for example in shared buildings, the parties are to clarify responsibility and areas. Where shared responsibility results all Heads of Department, as applicable, are to be named as being proportionally responsible.
It is the responsibility of the Head of Department to produce and maintain a Departmental Safety Statement. The Head of Department must ensure that all departmental staff, and any other relevant persons are made aware of the contents of the departmental safety statement. The departmental safety statement will outline the controls and procedures to be implemented at department level to ensure the safety health and welfare of staff and students in that department, and any other individual who may be affected by their activities.
A generic Departmental Safety Statement for administration/classroom based Departments is available from the College Safety Officer. This can be modified as necessary by the relevant Head of Department.
It is the responsibility of the Board to ensure that buildings are structurally sound, intrinsically safe, in good repair and fire safe. This responsibility is delegated to, and exercised by, the Director of Buildings. He consults with the College Safety Committee, the Finance Committee and the Estates Committee (formerly Site and Facilities Committee).
Departmental Safety Officers:
Each Head of Department must appoint a Departmental Safety Officer. This person is to carry out specific duties aimed at ensuring day to day compliance with the policy. The duties of a Departmental Safety Officer are outlined in Appendix 3.
Each Head of Department must appoint a Fire Warden. This person is to carry out specific fire safety duties in relation to fire prevention in the department, and assisting in evacuation procedures. The Departmental Safety Officer can act as Fire Warden. Where Departments share a common building it may be necessary to have a warden per floor or area. In some cases one warden in a shared building will suffice. The College Safety Officer will advise as to the location and numbers of wardens required. The duties associated with individual Fire Wardens are outlined in Appendix 4.
Departments are encouraged to have one person detailed to carry out the duties of
Departmental Safety Officer and Fire Warden where that is practical. This is purely for
administrative purposes, however the Head of Department shall have the final say on this matter.
Where a Head of Department does not appoint a Departmental Safety Officer or Fire Warden, the duties associated with these positions, as outlined in Appendix 3 & 4, will be automatically assigned to the Head of Department, being the person responsible for safety management in that Department / Area.
Each Departmental Safety Officer and Fire Warden is to have a deputy to act in that person’s absence, and absences should be co-ordinated to ensure that both are not away at the same time.
Employee Co-operation
All staff, students, visitors and contractors are expected to co-operate with all aspects of the College and relevant Departmental Safety Statements.
Every individual has a personal responsibility to work safely and co-operate with the management and Board of the College in providing a safe place of work. This is a legal requirement (see below), but also exists because a healthy and safe workplace is only achievable through the involvement and co- operation of all members of staff.
Section 9 of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 sets out the general duties of employees, as follows:
1. It shall be the duty of every employee while at work
a. to take reasonable care for their own safety, health and welfare and that of any other person who may be affected by their acts or omissions while at work.
b. to co-operate with their employer and any other person to such extent as will enable their employer or the other person(s) to comply with any of the relevant statutory provisions.
c. to use in such manner so as to provide the protection intended, any suitable appliance, protective clothing, convenience, equipment or other means or thing provided (whether for their use alone or for use by them in common with others) for securing their safety, health or welfare while at work.
d. to report to their employer or their immediate supervisor, without unreasonable delay, any defects in plant, equipment, place of work or system of work, which might endanger safety, health or welfare, of which they become aware.
2. No person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse any appliance, protective clothing, convenience, equipment or other means or thing provided in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions or otherwise, for securing the safety, health or welfare of persons arising out of work activities.
As well as these general duties, it is important that all employees be aware of health and safety duties / responsibilities which may be assigned to them in their departmental safety statement, a copy of which is available from the relevant Head of Department. These delegated duties are essential for the day to day implementation of safety measures, and employees are obliged to carry out these functions in accordance with Section 9(b) of the Act, as above.
Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences
All staff, students, contractors and visitors are reminded that all accidents or dangerous occurrences must be reported to the appropriate Head of Department. On receipt of accident and dangerous occurrence reports the Head of Department must ensure that a copy of the report is forwarded immediately to the Departmental Safety Officer (for information and follow up action), the College Safety Officer (for information, and advice re future prevention) and Ms. Patricia Gray, Director of Buildings Office, West Chapel, (for insurance purposes). If a member of staff is absent for greater than 3 working days as a result of an occupational accident or an occupational related illness, the Head of Department must specifically advise the College Safety Officer, as a mandatory report must be made to the Health and Safety Authority. Please refer to the College Policy on Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences for more detailed information.
HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT
The actual managerial and procedural measures required to achieve the Health and Safety policy will vary with the department, unit, building, function and area. In order to produce a Departmental Safety Statement and thus comply with the policy, departmental inspections incorporating hazard identification and risk assessment procedures must be undertaken on a regular basis.
Hazard Identification
A hazard is anything which has the potential to cause harm. All foreseeable hazards must be identified by an inspection, audit or tour of the area as appropriate. A list of possible hazards is included in Appendix 5. This list is not exhaustive. The hazard identification procedure must include both the identification of physical hazards in the work environment, and hazards associated with work practices. This hazard identification procedure must be formally undertaken in each department / area at regular intervals, ideally once a term, particularly in science, health science, engineering or laboratory based areas, and at least once a year, in all other areas, dependent on risk. The College Safety Officer is available for specific advice regarding same.
Risk Assessment
Risk can be defined as a combination of the likelihood of an accident occurring as a result of the existence of this hazard, and the possible severity of the consequences of such an accident. Hazards can be categorised as being High, Medium or Low risk depending on the chance of an accident occurrence resulting, and the likely severity of such an accident occurrence.
All hazards identified should be risk assessed, ie, categorised as being High, Medium or Low Risk. Control measures must then be identified and implemented to either eliminate the risk completely or if this is not possible, to reduce the risk as far as is reasonably practicable. The feasibility of eliminating the hazard completely, or substituting with safer alternatives or practices, should be looked at before considering implementing any alternative control measures. Personal protective equipment should only be used in the last instance when other control measures cannot reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
The level of risk should reflect the control measures being implemented and the amount of resources both financial and managerial, necessary to eliminate or reduce the risk to acceptable levels. The person responsible for implementation of these control measures must also be identified.
The Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment procedure is an integral part of the Departmental Safety Statement. Heads of Departments must ensure that Departmental Safety Statements are periodically reviewed and amended as necessary.
Hazards Associated with work Practices
All potentially hazardous activities must be risk assessed, however this is particularly important for Science, Engineering and lab-based activities. (see appendix 5). A guide to carrying out these assessments is included in Appendix 6. This guide can be modified as necessary and serves to illustrate specific areas that need consideration. Such activities may include the use of hazardous chemicals or machinery, field trips, science based practicals/demonstrations/research projects, hazardous physical manipulations, maintenance of hazardous machinery, and the manufacture of new hazardous substances or equipment etc.
Risk assessments for administration/classroom based Departments form part of generic Departmental Safety Statements, which are available from the College Safety Officer. These can be modified as necessary by the relevant Head of Department.
In many cases administrative/managerial/staff liaison controls and measures will result in the risk from a hazard being reduced to acceptable levels. Where the risk cannot be reduced to acceptable levels, for example if control measures require funding which is not available from Departmental or Risk Reduction budgets, the Head of Department shall require that function to cease, or not be initiated, or the area to close.
The format of the risk assessment in a Departmental Safety Statement can be as follows
Room / Hazard / RiskAssessment / Control Measures / Person
Responsible
Lab
2.1 / Eye
Injury / High / Wear Safety Glasses during lab work Lab / Supervisor
Dr J Doe
The Board realises the necessity to have specialist guidance and expertise available to assist departmental staff in the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment procedure in order to produce Departmental Safety Statements. Hence the following persons are available to advise Heads of Departments, Departmental Safety Officers and other relevant persons who may require advice.
The College Safety Officer: Mr. Tom Merriman
His duties include:-
· Carrying out risk assessments and safety audits of buildings on an ongoing basis. This information is forwarded to the Head of Department for implementation.
· Advising on all aspects of Health Safety Fire Safety and Environmental Protection. Where necessary he will refer matters to the College safety specialists or outside consultative bodies.
· Collating and updating Departmental Safety Statements.
· Investigating accidents and incidents.
· Informing Heads on relevant and impending legislation, as it affects their area.
· Organising training in the management and promotion of all Health & Safety, Fire and Environmental Protection aspects. Specific examples include training in manual handling, visual display unit use, basic fire safety, emergency procedures and risk assessment methods