Health and Safety
- Dave Hay
These pages contain advice, contacts, risk assessment and other materials in order to guide and inform safe working practices in the Department.
Please see the sub pages to the left for further advice on specific topics.
Please take two minutes to view this message from the Vice Chancellor regarding our positive workplace safety culture.
Department of Environment and Geography Health and Safety Policy
The Head of Department is responsible for ensuring the safety, as far as reasonably possible, of all staff, students and visitors, whilst on Departmental premises or on Departmental business.
Premises include offices, laboratories, Departmental teaching areas, common rooms, storage areas, and computer rooms. Departmental business includes field trips and prescribed fieldwork programmes.
Each individual has a legal responsibility to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and for that of others who may be affected by their acts and/or omissions.
Each individual must co-operate with safety advice and instruction laid down by the Departmental Safety Advisor or the Departmental Safety Committee.
It is the intention that the Department has and maintains safe systems of work in respect of all activities carried out both in the Department and in the field, and the co-operation of all members of the Department is required in order to achieve this.
The Departmental Safety Handbook gives further details as to the organisational structure and systems in place in the Department of Environment and Geography.
Safety Organisation
The Head of Department is advised in his safety responsibilities by a properly constituted Departmental Safety Committee. In respect of safety requirements, the Head of Department’s Deputy or nominee is the Departmental Safety Advisor.
Handbooks
The University of York has a moral obligation to protect both its workers and its students. Our staff are essential to the delivery of our teaching and research and we believe that nobody should come to work and be exposed to uncontrolled hazards which could affect their long and short term health when they leave work. Likewise for our students, many of whom come straight from school and have little experience of the workplace. Essentially they are our customers but play an integral role in work operations as we prepare them for the workplace in the future. We also owe their parents a duty of care in that their sons and daughters can gain a good education often away from home for the first time with minimal risk to their health and safety. We aim to ensure all of our staff and students are confident that we do our utmost to ensure their best interests are at the heart of what we do.
The financial and legal impacts to the University of a poor health and safety record are many, direct and indirect.
Time lost due to injuries and sickness absences incurs costs of sick pay, temporary pool staff replacements, occupational health costs, return to work support.
Costs due to damage to the physical estate and high value scientific equipment due to incorrect usage requiring expensive repairs, fire loss resulting in needing alternative teaching and research facilities.
Reputational costs due to bad publicity, court action, both criminal and civil, increased insurance costs, loss of confidence with research partners and funding councils.
Enforcement costs such as HSE inspector costs
Costs associated with enforcement actions. The University has an annual turnover of £450 million and fines could reach £10 million pounds for serious breaches of health and safety legislation. Prison sentences of up to 2 years could also be handed down by the courts.
These financial costs dwarf the costs of compliance, which would typically be in the region of £800 thousand pounds per annum for the University as a whole, covering 3,800 staff and over 16,800 students. Indirect costs from reduced student numbers added to the £10 million fines would have a serious impact on operations for years to come. Increased insurance costs would also be factored in and losses incurred through negligence would not be covered by insurance, so there would be an impact on University reserves.