September will see the return of students to the University, and with the requirement to ensure students are provided with access to information, guidance, and support to ensure their experience of University life is safe and secure.
Together with our colleagues in Campus Security, Accommodation, Residential Life and the Student Union the Health and Safety team will be facilitating the ‘Student Safety Talks’ in the last week of September for new students joining the University.
The talks also involve presentations by Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Campus Police, with students also having the opportunity to visit stalls and chat and ask questions to members of each team.
The Health and Safety team are leading a project with representatives from across University departments to introduce new Health and Safety capabilities onto the University’s Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system, also used by the University for space management and the Facilities Helpdesk service.
The project will see the introduction of a new incident reporting solution, the hosting of risk assessments online together with new inspections and action management capabilities.
The project has completed ‘User Acceptance Testing’, and we are working on the refinements and changes identified. It is anticipated these new health and safety capabilities should become progressively available over the next two months.
Preparations are underway for the Health, Safety and Security Committees in early October is underway. For this term there will be one draft policy and two procedures submitted for committee and Trades Union Liaison approval.
All Health and Safety training will now be available on the Staff Development LibCal portal.
We have a tranche of training planned for September including COSHH, Bio-Safety training, Gas Regulator, and Fire Warden training, with a new Risk Assessment training pack currently in development.
You’re recommended to check regularly for updates, or if you require a particular set of training to contact the Health and Safety team using this online form.
The Health and Safety team are working with the Faculty of Arts Science and Technology on a comprehensive inspection of health and safety arrangements in each of the faculty’s workshops.