HR Services Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSW) 1999 This policy is a sub-policy of the main University Health and Safety Policy Statement The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations set out broad general duties which apply to most work activities. They make more explicit the general requirements of employers made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Their aim is to encourage a systematic approach to managing health and safety. 1. Overview of responsibilities The regulations require you (Managers) to: 1. Assess the risks to health and safety posed by all your work activities. This is to enable the provision of preventative and protective measures. Record the significant findings of the risk assessment. Trivial risks do not need to be recorded. 2. Make arrangements to put in place the required health and safety measures that follow from your risk assessment. These measures form the Health and Safety Management System which should cover policy, organising, planning, monitoring, auditing and review, in addition records must be kept. 3. Provide health surveillance where it is appropriate for significant risks. 4. Appoint competent persons to assist you to decide and apply the necessary preventive and protective measures to ensure legal compliance. The competent person can be from within the organisation or from an external source. 5. To ensure you have in place procedures for emergencies and other serious and imminent danger. 6. You must provide employees with information, instruction and training so that they understand the risks they face and how to minimise them. 7. You must co-operate and co-ordinate with other employers who share your premises. 8. Provide temporary workers with appropriate information to enable them to comply with their health and safety duties. 9. Facilitate consultation over new work arrangements, equipment or procedures which affect health and safety. 10. Undertake risk assessments to ensure the health and safety of new or expectant mothers.
11. Ensure the health and safety of young persons is not compromised. Generally you are required to: 1. Ensure that equipment is suitable for its intended use. 2. Take into account the working environment, conditions and hazards. 3. Ensure that equipment is used only for operations and conditions for which it is suitable. 4. Ensure that equipment is regularly maintained, is in efficient working order and in good repair. 5. Give adequate instruction and training. 6. Provide equipment that conforms with product safety directives and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulation (PUWER) 1998. Further guidance on our University's commitment to complying with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) is provided on the following pages. MHSWR is supported by the additional requirements for assessing specific risks from The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (amended 2002), the Control of Substances Harmful to Health Regulations 2002 etc. Within the scope of the regulations 'new or expectant mother' means an employee who is pregnant; who has given birth within the previous six months; or who is breastfeeding. The term 'young person' means any person who has not attained the age of eighteen years. 2 RISK ASSESSMENT 2.1 Summary Guidance 2.1.1 A suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees and others involved in all workplace activities shall be undertaken and the significant findings recorded. 2.2 Action Required As per UEL risk assessment policy In the event of any changes in the activity, near miss incidents, accidents or cases of ill-health attributable to the activity, the risk assessment shall be revised to reflect this. The assistance of a specialist competent person shall be sought wherever risks are complex or unfamiliar.
3. PRINCIPLES OF PREVENTION 3.1 Summary Guidance 3.1.1 Implement protective and preventative measures to eliminate or control those risks identified as significant by the assessment. Action Required Where possible, avoid risk altogether by removing the hazard e.g. do the work in a different manner. Combat risk at source e.g. stop an oil leak rather than place a sign to indicate a slippery surface. Identify any technological or technical progress, which may offer safer methods. Implement risk reduction measures, giving priority to those measures which protect the whole workforce rather than the individual e.g. enclose a process rather than provide respiratory protection to operator. Provide information, instruction and training, as appropriate, to those persons affected by the risks identified. Monitor the effectiveness of risk control measures to ensure they are suitable, revising the assessment as necessary. - see examples Appendix 1 Hierarchy of Management Risk Control. 4 HEALTH AND SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS 4.1 Summary Guidance 4.1.1 Arrangements shall be made for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of all preventative and protective measures. 4.1.2 These arrangements shall be recorded. 4.2 Action Required Planning Set timescales and deadlines for completing the risk assessment process. Evaluate risk levels in order that actions for eliminating or reducing risks can be prioritised. Establish deadlines and allocate responsibilities for the implementation of identified preventative and protective measures.
Organisation Involve employees and their representatives in the risk assessment process. Establish effective lines of communication to enable employees to be part of the Health & Safety Management process. Provide access to competent specialist assistance as required. Control Ensure everyone with responsibility understands their role and duties. Review overall health and safety performance against measurable standards. Provide adequate supervision, particularly to those persons new to an activity. Monitoring Conduct routine inspections of all preventative and protective measures. Investigate the immediate and underlying causes of incidents and accidents. Record and analyse the results of inspections and investigations. Review Periodically review all of the above arrangements to ensure the health and safety management system remains effective. 5 HEALTH SURVEILLANCE 5.1 Summary Guidance 5.1.1 Provision shall be made for the appropriate health surveillance of employees, having regard to the health risks to which they may be exposed. 5.2 Action Required Identify any work to which ALL OF THE FOLLOWING health and safety issues apply: A disease or ill-health condition is related directly to an activity. A medical technique is available to detect signs of the disease or condition.
There is a foreseeable likelihood that the disease or condition may occur. Health surveillance would offer further protection from the disease or condition. NOTE: If any of the aforementioned issues do not apply then health surveillance is not appropriate. Provide an explanation to employees of the reasons for, the nature of and the frequency of all health surveillance to which they are subjected. Arrange appropriate health surveillance for those employees to whom it is relevant. Monitor the results of health surveillance and identify any signs indicating that current protection arrangements are not adequate. Detailed advice on the above may be obtained by contacting our University Occupational Health & Safety Unit on ext. 2966. 6 HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSISTANCE 6.1 Summary Guidance 6.1.1 Our University will appoint one or more competent persons to assist and advise in the compliance of statutory health and safety duties. 6.2 Action Required Only suitably qualified individuals with the relevant experience shall be appointed in this role. Where more specialist competent assistance/advice is required, this shall be sourced externally as required. Advice or assistance shall be sought from an appointed competent person wherever there is any uncertainty in applying any statutory health and safety provision. 7 PROCEDURES FOR SERIOUS AND IMMINENT DANGER 7.1 Summary Guidance 7.1.1 Our University will identify and introduce procedures to be followed in the event of serious or imminent danger. Competent persons will be appointed and trained as appropriate to oversee safe evacuation of the premises. No person will be allowed access to any area that could pose a risk to health and safety unless they have received adequate health and safety instruction. 7.2 Action Required
Situations which would necessitate the evacuation of all or part of the premises shall be identified and brought to the attention of the person appointed to ensure health and safety compliance. - See Section 6 Evacuation Plans will be made to ensure a speedy evacuation from the danger zone to a place of safety. This plan should enable an account to be made of all evacuees and ensure that the appropriate emergency services have been alerted. Persons appointed to oversee evacuations shall receive adequate training to perform this function. Persons who may be exposed to situations of serious and imminent danger shall be informed of the identity of the appointed person for evacuation, and the nature of the hazard and the steps taken to ensure their safety, including evacuation procedures. Evacuation drills shall be performed as regularly as appropriate - advice should be sought from the person appointed to ensure health and safety compliance. - See Section 6 An up to date record of emergency contacts shall be maintained, including contacts such as First Aiders, Fire Services, Ambulance, Police, HSE. No person shall be allowed to return to their place of work until approval has been given by the person in charge of the emergency situation. 8 INFORMATION FOR EMPLOYEES 8.1 Summary Guidance 8.1.1 UEL will provide all employees with adequate information regarding: the risks to their health and safety identified by the assessment, the preventative and protective arrangements, emergency procedures, the identity of persons nominated to ensure their safety. 8.2 Action Required Risk Assessments shall be brought to the attention of all persons affected by the risk. A copy of the Risk Assessments shall be kept available for viewing. Evacuation procedures shall be posted in a suitable place. Induction Training programmes shall be updated as required to provide this information. 9. NON EMPLOYEES WORKING IN UNIVERSITY PREMISES 9.1 Summary Guidance 9.1.1 UEL will ensure that employees from an outside employer working in our University are provided with information on the risks to which they may be
exposed whilst working on our premises and measures taken to control them. These persons will also be informed of the procedures necessary and the identity of any person who has been appointed by our University to implement evacuation procedures. 9.2 Action Required Relevant information on risks and control measures shall be provided to all non-employees working on University Premises. Information shall be provided to all non-employees identifying assembly points, appointed persons and any other relevant information. Any areas which they are not authorised to enter shall be brought to their attention. The host of the non-employees will be responsible for the conduct and safety of these persons at all times whilst they are on University premises. 10. CAPABILITIES AND TRAINING 10.1 Summary Guidance 10.1.1 UEL will ensure that all employees are adequately trained and capable, in terms of health and safety, to carry out the tasks allocated to them. 10.2 Action Required No work shall be assigned to an employee which is beyond his physical or mental ability. Training shall be provided, where additional training is required to improve an employee's capability to carry out an activity safely. Health and Safety training shall routinely be carried out on:- being recruited, being transferred or promoted, the introduction of new work equipment, the introduction of new technology, changes to a system of work. Training shall be repeated as appropriate and be undertaken during working hours. No charge shall be made in respect of any Health and Safety Training provided to employees. 11 EMPLOYEES' DUTIES 11.1 Summary Guidance 11.1.1 Employees have a duty to use all work items and materials provided by the University, in accordance with the training and instructions received. The
employee shall also notify a responsible person of any hazards or shortcomings which represent a serious and imminent danger to health and safety. 11.2 Action Required Employees shall not use any work equipment or materials for which they have not been authorised and trained. Work equipment and materials shall only be used in the manner and for the purpose that was demonstrated during training. Employees must report any health and safety hazards or shortcomings to the person appointed to ensure health and safety compliance. - See Section 6 No redress shall be taken against any employee who erroneously makes a judgement whilst acting in the spirit of the regulation. 12 TEMPORARY WORKERS 12.1 Summary Guidance 12.1.1 UEL shall ensure that any Temporary Workers or any Employment Agency providing temporary employees are supplied with comprehensible information on any special skills required by the temporary employee and, any health surveillance which may be necessary during the term of the temporary contract. 12.2 Action Required Any 'special' skills or competences required of temporary employees shall be made known to them prior to them being engaged. Any Health Surveillance requirements to be undertaken during the temporary employment shall be made known to the temporary employee prior to them being engaged. The information given shall be in accordance with Section 5 of this document. 13 RISK ASSESSMENTS IN RESPECT OF NEW OR EXPECTANT MOTHERS 13.1 Summary Guidance Where - a) the persons working in an undertaking include women of child-bearing age; and b) the work is of a kind which could involve risk, by reason of her condition, to the health and safety of a new or expectant mother, or to that of her baby, from
any processes or working conditions, or physical, biological or chemical agents, the assessment required by regulation shall also include an assessment of such risk. 13.2 Action Required When in receipt of official notification or as soon as identified from a female employee that she is pregnant, has given birth within the previous six months, or is breastfeeding, UEL will take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health of the mother and child. The risk assessments, identified, in Section 2 of this document shall take into account any additional risk posed to this category of employee whilst carrying out the work activity. Where it is not possible to avoid these additional risks our University will either: relocate the employee to an activity which avoids these risks, alter working conditions or hours to avoid these risks e.g. change from nightshift to dayshift. Where these actions do not avoid the risk, then the employee will be suspended from work for as long as is necessary in accordance with the Employment Rights Act 1996. NOTE: Nothing in this Section (Section 13) will apply until the employee has provided official notification from her doctor or midwife * Detailed advice on the above may be had by contacting our University Occupational Health Safety Unit ext. 2966. 14. PROTECTION OF YOUNG WORKERS 14.1 Summary Guidance 14.1.1 Every young person (below eighteen years) employed by our University or on work placement shall be protected at work from risks to their health due to consequence of inexperience or immaturity. 14.2 Action Required A specific risk assessment is undertaken, taking into account:- Inexperience, Physical and psychological capabilities, Risk of accident which can't be regarded as being reasonably recognised or avoided by a young person owing to a lack of experience or training.
No young person shall be exposed to risks to their health from:- Extreme heat, noise, cold, vibration or radiation, toxic carcinogenic or other chronically harmful substance or agent. Appendix 1 Hierarchy of Management Risk Control Where a risk assessment has identified hazards that require control, a hierarchy of control measures can be applied as follows: 1. Eliminate: If the hazard is removed, all the other management controls, such as assessment, record keeping, training, auditing are no longer needed, with subsequent time cost savings e.g. materials are supplied pre-painted rather than having to paint them. 2. Substitute: If the hazard cannot be removed, substitute for a lower hazard e.g. use of water based paint rather than spirit based. 3. Reduce: Use in small quantities, infrequently. (duplicate in batches, rather than carry out the task in large concentrated quantities; or use of low voltage electrical appliance) 4. Adapt: Where possible adapt work to the individual, taking account of the individuals mental and physical capabilities. 5. Technical Progress: Take advantage of technical progress such as using robotics. 6. Restricted areas:
Procedural measures to protect everyone, such as those used for access to electrical intake cupboards. 7. Multiple controls Use multiple methods of controls such as technical and procedural controls. 8. Planned maintenance: Introduce planned maintenance and inspection of plant and equipment to ensure integrity of components and elements such as cables and emergency switches. 9. Personal Protective Equipment: This should be used only as a last resort, after all other control measures have been considered, as a short term contingency during maintenance/ repair or as an additional protective measure. 10. Emergency arrangement: For example alarm systems and back up controls. Reviewed June 2014; Review June 2016.