HEALTH AND SAFETY SUPERVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Transcription

1 HEALTH AND SAFETY SUPERVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS HEALTH & SAFETY UNIT REVIEWED AUTUMN 2006

2 CONTENTS 1 GENERAL GUIDANCE NOTES - UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT WORK...1

3 1 General During formal classes the health and safety of students is the prime responsibility of the member of teaching staff timetabled to be in charge: Such responsibility will involve ensuring proper adherence to accepted health and safety standards. In some prescribed work locations Health and Safety Technical Advisers, (please refer to relevant agreement recognising Health and Safety Technical Advisers) have been designated to assist in the health and safety supervision. It is the responsibility of the Head of Department to ensure that adequate arrangements have been made for supervision of students, and the designation of times during which laboratories and workshop facilities are available to students. NB: The words "supervising" and "supervision" contained within these guidance notes are used in a health and safety context. They do not refer to the accepted academic interpretation of supervision of a project which relates to satisfactory progress and quality of work assessment etc. 1.1 The amount, nature and extent of the supervision required to discharge this responsibility will depend on an assessment of the following: a) the nature of the processes to be undertaken; b) the degree of potential risk involved in the activity, including the machinery and equipment available for use; c) the level of experience and competence of the students involved; d) a judgement based on the physical layout of the facilities. 1.2 The teaching staff responsible must make the assessment. 1.3 Where appropriate the supervision may be discharged by a Health & Safety Technical Adviser. 2 Guidance Notes - Undergraduate Project Work Due to the wide variation in activities being undertaken throughout the University these guidance notes are deliberately broad in their approach. It is the responsibility of the Head of Department and the member of staff who has assigned or is supervising the project to draw up and implement more detailed health and safety regulations where these are considered necessary. These more detailed regulations are to be drawn up in consultation with any relevant Health and Safety Technical Adviser before the commencement of the project. The effectiveness of these regulations should he monitored These guidance notes are in addition to the general requirements for the supervision of students set out above.

4 2.1 So far as the supervision of undergraduate project students is concerned the risks may be broadly sub-divided into two groups:- a) High risk - Faculty Laboratories/Workshops in which moving machinery, electrical hazards and hazardous substance including micro-organisms are being used; b) Low risk - Computing laboratories, libraries, classrooms etc. The level of supervision therefore should be balanced against the risks involved in the project work. Please refer to Section 1.1. The following guidelines are aimed at the high risk categories. 2.2 No undergraduates shall be permitted to work in any high risk area outside normal class hours without the presence of a member of teaching staff or a designated Health and Safety Technical Adviser. 2.3 Where students are undertaking projects it is the responsibility of the members of staff who have assigned or are supervising the projects to continually assess and inform the students of any potential hazards. 2.4 Adequate instruction and information complements supervision and helps the student to understand the risks that may be associated with the project. The level of instruction and information provided to the student will be determined by the degree of potential hazard associated with the project but must include: a) the identification of any machinery and processes which are considered hazardous; b) any activity covered by relevant legislation e.g. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health; c) any protective clothing and/or equipment that may be required; d) any safe systems of work relevant to the activities undertaken in the project. 2.5 When considering whether aspects of a project may be undertaken without supervision the member of staff who is in charge of the project work must ensure that the following requirements are implemented before supervision is removed. a) ensure that all students are familiar with the emergency evacuation procedure and the location of the nearest first aider (this information can be provided at the beginning of the academic session via an information sheet); b) take into account that some work processes, such as lifting heavy weights or hand operated machines can inflict serious injuries and due regard must be taken of this when deciding upon whether or not students should operate unsupervised; 2

5 c) consider whether or not the project presents a special risk to an unsupervised student; d) whether all the plant, equipment and substances involved in the working area can be safely handled by one person? The project work may involve lifting objects too large for one person, more than one person may be necessary to operate essential controls for the safe running of equipment, etc; c) establish whether or not the student has any declared medical conditions which may make him/her unsuitable to work unsupervised 2.6 Where students use University services not under the control of the member of staff supervising the project e.g. library, reprographics etc, the responsibility for the health and safety of the students will fall under the responsibility of the 3