Peter Adams

Health and Safety -Responsibilities and the University’s Approach

Aims

• To understand the responsibilities for the

implementation of health and safety.

• Explain how the University manages health and

safety.

• Guide you to sources of information and

assistance.

• Provide the opportunity for your questions on all

aspects of health and safety

Personal Responsibility – Duty of Care

You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or

omissions which you can reasonably foresee would

be likely to injure another person.

A successful claim requires the claimant to show:

• That they were owed a duty of care;

• That there was a breach in that duty of care, and;

• That the breach led to the damage.

Personal Responsibility – Duty of Care

• If you are acting as an individual in a private matter

this duty of care rests with you.

• Normally, but not always, household or motor

insurance will provide cover but this is not always

the case.

• Vicarious liability - the employer takes the

responsibility for your action.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Section 2(1)

• It shall be the duty of every

employer to ensure, so far as is

reasonably practicable, the

health, safety and welfare at

work of all his employees

Equipment, Articles & Substances

6. (1) It shall be the duty of any person who designs,

manufactures, imports or supplies any article for

use at work to ensure, so far as is reasonably

practicable, that the article is so designed and

constructed as to be safe and without risks to

health when properly used;

Personal Responsibilities

7. It shall be the duty of every employee while at work

to take reasonable care for the health and safety of

himself and of other persons who may be affected

by his acts or omissions at work; and …

Personal Responsibility

… as regards any duty or requirement imposed on his

employer, to co-operate with him so far as is

necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be

performed or complied with.

Implementation at the University

• For the UoB the "employer" is the University

Council, the responsibility for HS&W cascades

through the organisation.

• Simple to implement in a hierarchy, but in

Universities "line management" is often not

recognised.

• But the law applies & Council expects the duty to

be met by all.

Ordinance 10

The head of an academic department shall be

responsible to the dean for the following:

(b) academic leadership in the department

(e) the quality of education and educational support

for students in the department

(g) management, development and support for all

departmental staff

(j) health and safety in the department

HASAWA Section 7

Duty of the employee to take

reasonable care for themselves

& others, due to their acts or

omissions, to co-operate with the

employer

• e.g. Barrow-in-Furness

HASAWA Section 37

Liability of Individuals

Where an offence committed by a

body corporate is proved to have

been committed with the consent

or connivance of, or have been

attributable to any neglect on the

part of a senior manager, he as

well as the body corporate shall be

guilty of that offence.

Ordinance 28

Misconduct

a) Conduct which constitutes a criminal offence…

k) Action likely to cause injury or impair safety on

University premises, or infringement of University

Health and Safety policy

l) Negligence which causes or might cause

unacceptable loss, damage or injury

u) Failure to comply with a reasonable request or

instruction from an appropriate person

Risk Assessment

The cornerstone of health and safety management

Those who create the risks must assess and control

them to acceptable levels

Regulations require:– Risk Assessments to be ‘suitable and sufficient’.– The effort put into the assessment must be

commensurate with the risk from the activity.– Risk assessment must be recorded

Role of the Health and Safety Office

Supporting and enabling work to take place.

• Policy development

• Specialist Advice to all

• Monitoring

• Accident Investigation

• Auditing

• Enforcement

What if it all goes wrong?

What if it all goes wrong?

You are not alone, If you need advice or assistance

Please ask

Peter Adams, Liz Greaves, Andy MacQuiban,

Jill Brain, Richard Norris, Tony Butterworth,

Simon Golding

bristol_safety@bristol.ac.uk

0117 92 x88780