Compliance Assessment – Departmental use

Safety advisers and safety committees / Yes / No / Comments
Have you appointed suitable persons as Departmental Safety Officers and other relevant advisers?
Do they require further training?
Do you have a departmental safety committee?
Have its agendas and minutes been sent to the Safety Office?
If you do not have a departmental safety committee, is safety a standing item on the agenda of departmental committee meetings?
Can you produce evidence of safety discussions at those meetings?
How many times has the departmental safety committee (or equivalent) met in the last year?
Does the safety committee (or equivalent) discuss accidents and incidents, and the means of avoiding their recurrence?
Safety training / Yes / No / Comments
Do you have safety induction arrangements for staff and students?
Briefly describe the content and frequency of training sessions and state who delivers them.
Do you keep records of this training?
Do your staff and students attend safety training courses run by the Safety Office or other training providers?
Are your supervisors appropriately trained (e.g. in risk assessment)?
Is further training required? (E.g. in risk assessment or other specific topics – it would be helpful to list these topics so the Safety Office can assess how best to target its training efforts).
Emergency arrangements and first aid / Yes / No / Comments
Do you have adequate arrangements in place to deal with foreseeable incidents (e.g. spillages of chemicals, cryogens, biological agents, or radioactive materials)?
Have you prepared a plan that will assist the emergency services (as described in UPS5/01) and sent the plan with an up to date list of key holders to University Security Services?
Do you have adequate safety arrangements for staff and students who work out of hours?
Do you have adequate first aid arrangements, including instruction to out of hours workers on obtaining first aid?
Risk assessment / Yes / No / Comments
Are you satisfied that your department adequately complies with these policies in all area of significant risk, including all newly introduced significant risks?
If not, do you need help with this and how could that best be achieved?
Are you satisfied that heads of research groups have made the necessary risk assessments for their work activities and provide them to the appropriate workers?
Does your department have a mechanism for ensuring that relevant new safety policies communicated to the appropriate workers?
Have assessments been made for those who might be at risk because they
  • work alone
  • are obliged to work at home as part of their contract
  • are obliged to travel as part of their work?

Fieldwork and overseas travel / Yes / No / Comments
Does your department have arrangements in place to prepare and approve risk assessments for fieldwork and overseas travel, particularly to places where travel is contrary to Foreign and Commonwealth Office Advice?
Monitoring safety arrangements / Yes / No / Comments
Has the department carried out at least one safety inspection and taken action to address any significant risks identified?
Do you have a mechanism for enduring that actions are not left outstanding from one inspection to another?
Has a copy of the inspection report been sent to the Safety Office?
Has action been taken to address any deficiencies found during the regular testing of items such as fume cupboards, safety cabinets, local exhaust ventilation, lifting gear, ladders, and electrical equipment?
Occupational Health / Yes / No / Comments
Do all new staff complete a pre-employment health questionnaire and submit it to the Occupational Health Service?
Have staff been registered with the Occupational Health Service where necessary, and in accordance with University policies?
Do you have mechanisms in place to ensure staff attend for appointments when required?

Signed …………………………

Head of Department …………………………

Department name …………………………

Date …………………………

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