1.1 Oxford Brookes University has duties under the Health and Safety (H&S) at Work Act 1974 to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees, students, contractors and visitors.
1.2 The Policy demonstrates a shared, common understanding of the organisation’s commitment to a positive health and safety culture and is fostered by the commitment and visible, active leadership of senior managers.
2.1 The following Health and Safety Management System has been developed in order to implement the Health and Safety Policy Statement of Oxford Brookes and signifies our institutional commitment to sound, practical health and safety management.
2.2 The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy and Safety Management System provides Oxford Brookes with the appropriate structure required to effectively manage our OHS obligations to staff, students, visitors, members of the public and contractors who could be exposed to hazards associated with the university’s activities. The management system is designed to cover operations both on-site and off-site when controlled by the University’s employees.
2.3 The University’s OHS Management System follows the principals of the Plan, Do, Check, Act/Review model.
Schematic representation of the Oxford Brookes OHS Management System
2.4 This phase defines the broad framework in which the University will operate with regards to health and safety.
2.5 This phase establishes the objectives and processes for achieving the policy commitments. It involves planning for hazard control including hazard identification, risk assessment, objective setting and legal requirements.
2.6 This phase defines how processes and plans will be implemented and includes roles and responsibilities as well as how Oxford Brookes will deliver health and safety management.
2.7 This phase involves checking that policies, procedures and plans have been implemented through the monitoring of Health and Safety performance. This can be achieved through workplace inspections, audits, review of accident/incident data and associated investigations.
2.8 This phase involves a senior management review of Health and Safety performance at School/Professional Service level, in order to take action to improve continually.
3.1 The management system, as outlined within the Health and Safety at Work policy statement, constitutes the organisation and arrangements that Oxford Brookes has in place for managing its OHS obligations.
3.2 This policy statement shall be reviewed annually.
3.3 This Policy will be supported by procedures and guidance to support the practical implementation of the Oxford Brookes OHS Management System.
3.4 It is the responsibility of the Oxford Brookes Director of Occupational Health and Safety to develop specific policies, procedures and best practice guidance.
3.5 It is intended that Oxford Brookes OHS procedures will be adopted by each Faculty and service. On occasion there will be a need for local Faculty/Directorate specific arrangements, which must be documented and reviewed in line with the University Safety Management System.
4.1 Oxford Brookes is one of the UK's top modern universities with a local, national and international reputation for teaching and research excellence. We are committed to providing an outstanding student experience for all our students. We do this by delivering a globally relevant educational experience which challenges and inspires each student within a collaborative and inclusive community.
4.2 At the heart of our teaching is the opportunity to engage beyond the classroom, so that knowledge and theory are taught in a way that gives practical relevance. Real-life projects, high quality work experience and transferable skills all provide opportunities for our students to learn and to boost their employability.
4.3 Many of our lecturers draw on their industry and professional expertise in their work with students. By maintaining links with industry, the knowledge they pass on to students is always based on real world experience
4.4 Our research is focused on delivering social, cultural and economic benefits which are transformational for our communities, both locally and globally.
4.5 The University’s education and research activities can be split into the following Faculties:
The education and research activities at Oxford Brookes are supported by a number of Professional Services:
5.1 The identification of control measures for each hazard will involve consideration according to the hierarchy of controls as laid out in the University’s Risk Assessment Procedure and associated procedures such as the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH).
The University, in order to demonstrate its commitment to compliance with its statutory obligations has developed a register of legal requirements affecting its operations.
5.2 The health and safety department maintains an institutional-wide health and safety Hazard Register from information provided from the Faculties and Directorates to identify the significant issues that could impact on the University, in order to monitor the control measures of these hazards and compliance with statutory requirements.
Risk Assessment
5.3 It is the responsibility of Pro-Vice Chancellor Deans and Directors of Professional Services to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place within their areas for all significant hazards that arise as a result of their operations; to be appropriately risk assessed. This should also include the identification of measures to control and minimise the risk to as low as reasonably practicable to staff, students, visitors, members of the public and contractors.
5.4 In practice responsibility for the implementation on a day-to-day basis lies with Managers and Supervisors who should ensure that risk assessments of operations under their control are undertaken and authorised by a competent person.
5.5 The arrangements for general health and safety risk assessments in Oxford Brookes are described in the University’s risk assessment procedure (available on the Oxford Brookes health and safety policies webpage).
5.6 In addition to the above, Pro-Vice Chancellor Deans and Directors of Service are responsible for ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place locally to ensure the following:
5.7 To ensure the effectiveness of the control measures, Oxford Brookes will establish proactive and reactive methods. Further information can be found in Section 9.
It is the responsibility of Managers and Supervisors to ensure that:
Review of causal factors in relation to incidents.
In response to complaints from interested parties and/or findings from audits, inspections and assessments.
5.8 The University has established various mechanisms to support the management of risk from fire:
Oxford Brookes engages a competent third party who undertakes the required fire risk assessments and advises accordingly.
Every building within the University has undergone a fire risk assessment. These assessments are subject to a regular review.
All staff receive fire awareness training via the on-line training system.
Fire-fighting equipment is available throughout Oxford Brookes buildings.
Each Faculty and Service has nominated fire marshals whose role is to monitor the workplace for potential situations that may cause/exacerbate fire and to assist in the emergency evacuation of buildings.
Fire detection systems are installed and maintained at all University-occupied buildings.
5.9 Arrangements for the management of contractors are implemented in accordance with the Management of Control of Contractors procedure (available on the Oxford Brookes Health and Safety web area).
5.10 It is the responsibility of the Host to ensure that Contractors under their control are competent to undertake the tasks assigned to them. Contractors must provide evidence of competence for their area of expertise as part of any procurement process.
5.11 Contractors are required to produce suitable and sufficient generic risk assessments as part of the evaluation process, which should be supplemented by job-specific method statements and these should be submitted to the Host prior to work commencing on site.
5.12 Contractors are required to abide by the University’s Permit to Work systems that can only be issued by a designated Oxford Brookes Authorised Person.
5.13 The Host will routinely monitor the performance of the contractors through inspection of the workplace.
6.1 The University is committed to compliance with its statutory and other requirements affecting it and has developed and maintains a register of health and safety related legal and other requirements to which it must conform.
6.2 It is the responsibility of the Director of Occupational Health and Safety Department to lead in identifying changes to legal requirements and to disseminate relevant information through appropriate communication routes. It is a management responsibility to ensure changes in legal requirements are appropriately implemented.
6.3 In order to achieve continual improvement in the management of Health and Safety throughout Oxford Brookes, systems have been developed to identify, establish and agree objectives and targets (and subsequent programmes to monitor and achieve the objectives) at School and Service level.
6.4 Health and Safety objectives should take the following into account:
6.5 In order to be monitored effectively, the objectives will be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART).
6.6 The Schools and Services Health and Safety objectives and programmes will be agreed between members of the PVC-Deans and Service Directors and their respective health and safety lead. Objectives will be formally approved by the School/Service Health and Safety Committee on at least an annual basis and will be communicated to all staff.
6.7 Progress on School/Service Health and Safety objectives will be reviewed at the School/Service Health and Safety Committee.
6.8 To ensure the effective management of health and safety within Oxford Brookes, a structure has been established to make certain that roles and responsibilities are defined and understood. There are mechanisms to identify training and awareness needs so that staff and students have the knowledge they need to work safely and required resources are identified and available.
6.9 In addition, the University has mechanisms for the control of documents relating to the management system to ensure that they are relevant and readily available. It has established various communication systems including a briefing process to ensure that relevant information can be exchanged and consultation with staff, students, Union- appointed safety representatives and other representative bodies is achievable.
6.10 Implementation of the University Health and Safety Policy is a line management responsibility; as such a manager may issue instructions/guidance and delegate this to staff under their control.
6.11 However, the duty to ensure compliance remains with the line manager at all times. The persons, to whom the functions are passed, may also be in breach of duty if they do not carry out their functions within the authority delegated to them.
6.12 The governance arrangements are illustrated, with detail being provided in Health and Safety Governance Procedure (available on the Oxford Brookes Health and Safety webpage). The overriding purpose of these arrangements is to allow the appropriate flow of communication and provide the required level of assurance that the health and safety management system is being managed in an appropriate manner.
Board of Governors (BoG)
Vice Chancellors Group (VCG)
Specialist Safety Groups
The Board of Governors is responsible for determining the overall mission and setting the educational character of the University. It approved the University's eight key objectives, the academic plan, and core strategies. The Board is also responsible for monitoring the performance of the University.
The Vice-Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the University. Responsibility for health and safety sits with the Vice-Chancellor.
The Vice-Chancellor is advised and assisted in his duties by the Vice-Chancellor’s Group (VCG). VCG is not constituted within the University’s governing documents: its authority is derived solely from the Vice-Chancellor's authority as CEO.
The Vice-Chancellor has the following specific responsibilities:
University Health and Safety Policy
Planning
Implementation
Ensure training programmes exist so that staff and students can adequately carry out their health and safety responsibilities
Checking
Review
University Health and Safety Policy
Planning
Implementation
Checking
Ensure there are systems in place to monitor the effectiveness of the health and safety management system locally.
Review
University Health and Safety Policy
Ensure the Theme/Group/Department has the appropriate structure to manage health and safety.
Ensure the Health and Safety policy is appropriately communicated with the intent that everyone knows their health and safety obligations.
Planning
Implementation
Checking
Review
University Health and Safety Policy
Planning
Implementation
Checking
Review
University Health and Safety Policy
Ensure you understand your health and safety role and responsibilities relating to legal requirements and the School/Service.
Planning
Implementation
Checking
Review
Receive information from the management review of health and safety performance.
These roles are assigned by the University to comply with statutory requirements and include:
Biological Safety Officer
Responsible for:
Providing competent advice on specific aspects of any work regarding biological risk.
Nominated Trade Union Safety Representative
Responsible for:
Representing the health and safety interest of their Trade Union Members.
Student Representative
Responsible for:
First Aiders
Responsible for:
Poisons Advisor
Responsible for:
8.1 The University has developed various mechanisms for the identification of training and awareness needs and methods of training delivery.
Methods for identifying training needs include:
Each Faculty and Service will identify a minimum level of health and safety training in line with the job role.
8.2 Oxford Brookes University requires all new members of staff (or staff that have moved within Oxford Brookes) and all students to have received an appropriate induction that highlights the relevant OHS arrangements, local rules and site-specific information.
8.3 Visitors to Oxford Brookes will be the responsibility of the host and are to be provided with appropriate health and safety information appropriate to the purpose of their visit.
8.4 Due to the nature of activities at the University, not all staff with the same job title will require the same specific health and safety. Furthermore, an individual member of staff may not require the same training whilst undertaking the same role at the University e.g. a senior lecturer may not be required to undertake risk assessments on a regular basis. Consequently, requiring all senior lecturers to undertake risk assessment training is counterproductive. It is more appropriate for specific training to be undertaken as and when required.
8.5 It is the responsibility of the Manager/Supervisor to ensure that the person(s) undertaking a task has the appropriate level of competence to minimise the health and safety risk whilst carrying it out. Methods to assess competence for a task this include:
8.6 It is the responsibility of Managers and Supervisors to ensure that contractors undertaking tasks on behalf of Oxford Brookes University are competent to do so. Arrangements for checking contractor competency are described in the Oxford Brookes arrangements for the Control of Contractors document. The University is responsible for contractors installing or servicing equipment owned by the University.
8.7 The primary method of communicating health and safety issues in Oxford Brookes is via the ‘Staff Communication’ managed by the Marketing Recruitment and Engagement Directorate. There will be a central team brief sent out to Schools and Services that should be supplemented by local information.
8.8 Other forms of communication for OHS issues at Oxford Brookes will include the following:
8.9 Oxford Brookes recognises the importance of participation and consultation (including its statutory obligation). The formal mechanism for consultation is via the Oxford Brookes HSWSC under the arrangements documented in University’s Governance procedure (available on the Oxford Brookes Health and Safety web area).
8.10 Communications relating to health and safety issues and/or the OHS management system arising within a Faculty/Professional Service should be raised with their health and safety lead, who will channel the communication to the University’s health and safety Department, in order to allow follow-up investigations or remedial action to be taken.
8.11 All staff are encouraged to submit suggestions for OHS improvement via induction and general awareness training, through their health and safety lead or line manager.
8.12 Communications: Electronic or hardcopy communication requests received by a Faculty/Service from external parties, relating to OHS issues, shall be forwarded to the relevant health and Safety lead who will notify the Director of Occupational H&S and the University’s Freedom of Information Officer.
8.13 All external communications received by the University relating to a specific Faculty/Service will be forwarded to the relevant health and safety lead.
8.14 Complaints: All OHS related complaints shall be forwarded with urgency to the Faculty/Service health and safety lead with a copy to the University’s Director of Occupational Health and Safety.
8.15 All external complaints, along with details of any follow-up investigations or remedial action required will be recorded on the Oxford Brookes Health and Safety Complaints Register, which will be maintained by the University’s H&S Department.
8.16 A report of external complaints will be reported to the Oxford Brookes HSWOC and HSWSC as part of the University review of OHS management process.
8.17 Control of major documents relating to the Oxford Brookes OHS Management System are as follows:
The master copies are held and managed by the Director of Occupational Health and Safety. It is available as part of the Oxford Brookes OHS Management System on the Health and Safety website.
8.18 Master copies of the Oxford Brookes OHS policies, procedures and best practice guidance are held and managed by the Director of Occupational H&S. They are also available on the Health and Safety policies website.
8.19 Where new procedures are developed or there are significant changes to existing procedures consultation will take place with relevant stakeholders. These will be determined by the lead reviewer of the procedure but must include all Union-appointed safety representatives.
8.20 Depending on the nature of the procedure/revision it may be necessary to involve stakeholders in a technical capacity to advise on the content, prior to wider, formal consultation. This phase will normally be for a period of two weeks. However, depending on the responses, it may be necessary to extend this.
8.21 A register of equipment and records of testing for lifting equipment, LEVs, pressure vessels and compressed air equipment is held on the database managed through the Health and Safety Office. Appropriate stakeholders from across Oxford Brookes have access to this information.
8.22 A register of Fixed Wiring Tests and Inspection is held and managed by the Maintenance team within Estates and Campus Services. Appropriate stakeholders from across Oxford Brookes have access to this information.
8.23 A register of Oxford Brookes buildings containing asbestos is held and managed by the Maintenance team within Estates and Campus Services. Appropriate stakeholders from across Oxford Brookes have access to this information.
8.24 A register of the hot and cold water systems is held and managed by Maintenance team within Estates and Campus Services. Appropriate stakeholders from across Oxford Brookes have access to this information.
8.25 Electronic copies of fire risk assessments are managed and held by the Health and Safety Team. Appropriate stakeholders from across Oxford Brookes have access to this information.
8.26 Health records, including health surveillance, are managed and maintained by Oxford Brookes Occupational Health provider.
Faculties and services
8.27 It is the responsibility of Pro-Vice-Chancellors Deans and Directors of Professional Services to identify, implement and maintain controls for hazards under its operation. Furthermore, it is their responsibility to ensure arrangements are in place to monitor the effectiveness of the controls in line with statutory requirements or in line with risk assessment outcomes.
8.28 All buildings for which Oxford Brookes are responsible for have undergone assessment for the presence of asbestos-containing material via the University’s nominated specialist contractor.
8.29 Estates and Campus ServicesThe ECS Directorate is responsible for the routine maintenance and checking of the fixed wiring throughout Oxford Brookes. At Swindon site PAT testing is conducted under a separate arrangement with the nominated facilities management contractor.
8.30 It is the responsibility of Pro-Vice Chancellors Deans and Directors of Services to ensure arrangements are in place for the testing of portable electrical appliances within their areas, using the ECS appointed contractor. At Swindon site PAT testing is conducted under a separate arrangement with the nominated facilities management contractor.
8.31 The Maintenance Team within Estates and Campus Services is responsible for the routine maintenance and checking of the fire detection systems throughout Oxford Brookes University. At Swindon this is managed under a separate arrangement with the nominated facilities management contractor.
8.32 The Maintenance Team within Estates and Campus Services is responsible for the provision and routine maintenance and checking of the firefighting equipment throughout the University.At Swindon this is managed under a separate arrangement with the nominated facilities management contractor.
8.33 The Maintenance Team within Estates and Campus Services are responsible for the management of Legionella and works with a Legionella Responsible Contractor in all aspects of this. At Swindon this is managed under a separate arrangement with the nominated facilities management contractor.
8.34 The Maintenance Team is responsible for the management of controls relating to this risk within the water supply network throughout the University. Controls such as flushing and the Swindon site are managed by the nominated facilities management contractor.
8.35 The Health and Safety office is responsible for coordinating the statutory testing of lifting gear throughout the University via the nominated insurance inspection contractor.
8.36 It is the responsibility of Pro-Vice-Chancellor Deans and Directors of Services to ensure there are procedures in place to identify new lifting equipment, that it is registered with the Health and Safety Department and that procedures are in place to ensure that lifting gear is fit-for-purpose and used by appropriately trained staff and students.
8.37 It is the responsibility of the members of the Pro-Vice Chancellor-Deans and Directors of Services to ensure arrangements are in place for pressurised vessels to be regularly maintained and checked. Statutory inspections on pressure vessels will be arranged by the Health and Safety Department via the nominated insurance inspection contractor.
8.38 It is the responsibility of members of the Pro-Vice Chancellor-Deans and Directors of Directorates to have in place arrangements to identify and maintain controls for chemical storage to ensure that, where necessary, suitable bunding is in place and adequate spillage kits are available. The surrounding drainage of any storage area should also be identified to ensure that controls are in place to prevent any accidental discharge to drains, in line with the policies and procedures set out by the Environmental Sustainability Team.
8.39 Oxford Brookes has a procedure for the identification of emergency situations and response to those situations associated with both specific activities and the wider workplace. This procedure is owned and managed by the University’s Risk and Resilience Manager.
8.40 An inspection programme will be undertaken in all areas considered higher hazard e.g. laboratories, workshops every six months.
8.41 All areas considered to be low risk (offices, lecture rooms, welfare facilities etc) are inspected by a member of the health & safety team, together with the relevant CSA Manager on a six monthly basis
8.42 Faculties and Professional Services are expected to undertake inspections of their own higher hazard areas. Further information is available in the Health and Safety Inspection Procedure.
Fire
8.43 The University Fire Safety procedure is documented in (available on the Oxford Brookes Health and Safety web area).
8.44 It will be the responsibility of the line Manager/Supervisor/Host to develop a PEEP for those staff and students requiring assistance during an emergency evacuation.
8.45 All staff have responsibilities in the event of a fire alarm to evacuate the building by the nearest emergency exit and to encourage others to do the same. Security staff and Campus Service Assistants have a role in sweeping buildings once occupants have evacuated.
8.46 Where appropriate, the University will install evacuation chairs to be used in the event of an emergency evacuation. It is the responsibility of ECS to maintain the chairs.
8.47 It is the responsibility of Pro-Vice Chancellor-Deans and Directors of Services to ensure that local emergency procedures are in place in the event of exposure to hazardous chemicals. In practice these should be identified through the risk assessment process and may include:
8.48 Each Faculty and Service shall nominate an appropriate number of first aiders in the event of injury or ill-health, based on a first aid needs assessment. These persons must be appropriately trained - the training is provided by an external organisation.
9.1 The University has established procedures for measuring and monitoring its health and safety performance on a routine basis. The performance monitoring and measuring consists of proactive measures (including, workplace inspections, internal audits, and occupational hygiene and) and reactive measures (including incident investigations, health surveillance and monitoring in response to identified issues).
Workplace/activity/project monitoring
9.2 It is the responsibility of members of the Executive and Directors of Services to ensure that activities and workplaces under its control are checked regularly. In practice, it is the responsibility of Managers and Supervisors to ensure the workplace under their control is inspected and that issues raised as a result of audits and inspections are addressed within a timescale proportionate to the risk. Records of inspections and any monitoring forms should be retained locally by Managers and Supervisors.
9.3 The Risk Assessment Procedure should be used to identify working practices to be monitored and it provides guidance on the frequency of these inspections. The COSHH Assessment Procedure should be used to identify health surveillance requirements.
9.4 Oxford Brookes has access to specialist occupational health support which provides professional advice in relation to health exposures to:
9.5 Internal OHS audits will be conducted on all areas of the management system being heavily informed by a review of the management systems outputs
9.6 The internal audit programme will operate on an annual basis although not all aspects of the management system will be audited annually.
9.7 It is the responsibility of the Director of Occupational Health and Safety to devise an annual audit plan to be approved by the Health, Safety and Welfare Strategic Committee. The findings will be reported via the established Health and Safety Committees/meetings
9.8 Implementation of actions will be monitored through to close out within the agreed timescales.
9.9 Progress against the audit plan will be reviewed at School/Service Health and Safety Committee Meetings.
9.10 In addition, there are a number of specific activities that will be subject to internal audit.
9.11 It is the responsibility of Pro-Vice Chancellor-Deans and Directors of Services to have in place mechanisms to identify through risk/ Control of Substances Hazardous to Health assessments or any work with non-notifiable asbestos containing removal work, the requirement for health surveillance and to keep appropriate records.
9.12 It is the responsibility of the manager to notify the Senior Occupational Health Advisor of the requirement to organise health surveillance for those staff identified as requiring it, and to communicate to the Senior Occupational Health Advisor any issues arising from the surveillance results and to keep records accordingly.
9.13 Details of calibration records are retained within each Faculty/Professional Service as appropriate.
9.14 The University is periodically audited by external bodies to assess its management systems. The external bodies include:
9.15 Line managers are responsible for sharing the outputs from any health and safety monitoring with their team.
9.16 Outputs from health and safety inspections and audits will be presented at the Faculty/Professional Service Health and Safety Committee or suitable alternate senior management group.
Accidents, Incidents and Near Misses
9.17 It is the responsibility of Managers and Supervisors to ensure, when known, that all accidents and near misses in areas under their control are reported using Oxford Brookes health and safety reporting mechanism. The level of investigation will depend on the actual harm or the potential for harm that could have resulted and will be proportionate to the nature of the incident.
9.18 The Health and Safety team will lead the investigation into accidents or near misses that have been assessed as being of sufficient significance to warrant this. The findings from the investigations are reported to senior management and/or the VCG depending on the severity of the incident.
9.19 Oxford Brookes recognises that Safety Representatives have the right to investigate incidents whether highlighted by a Trades Union member or not.
9.20 It is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Department to assess and when appropriate report to the HSE any incident that falls under the requirements of the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
10.1 The University has developed systems to undertake a regular review of health and safety performance through the University’s H&S Committee. Information relating to H&S performance will also be provided to each Faculty and Directorate.
10.2 Regular reviews of health and safety management performance will be carried out through the University’s Health and Safety Committee structure.
Inputs to the review include:
Outputs of the review:
Document title: Organisation and arrangements
Document number: OB-HAS-PROC-2.0
Version number: V1.0
Document owner: Paul Bradley
Department: University Health and Safety Department
Implementation/effective date: 21-03-2024
Date of this version: 21-03-2024
Date of next review: March 2025
Approved at: VCG-Ops Group
Date: 21 March 2024