Senior manager health and safety responsibilities

All senior managers are responsible for showing leadership on health and safety. This involves:

• proactively promoting health and safety as part of the University’s culture and values
• ensuring there are suitable resources and management systems in place for dealing with health and safety risks sensibly, responsibly and proportionately
• monitoring to ensure the University’s standards are being met and achieving the right results
• taking action to address weaknesses in health and safety performance

All senior managers also have manager responsibilities for the people they line manage.

Heads of department, section or business unit

Heads of department, section or business unit have overall responsibility for ensuring their department complies with the University’s health and safety requirements and is managing health and safety effectively. This includes:

• ensuring there are suitable arrangements for communication, consultation, co-ordination and ensuring competence and the management of significant risks arising from their department’s activities. See our guidance on managing health and safety for more information. This includes maintaining an up-to-date health and safety management statement.
• ensuring health and safety is incorporated into the curriculum for subjects where there are significant risks associated with teaching and research activities
• regularly monitoring and reviewing health and safety performance, including carrying out an annual health and safety inspection, regularly reviewing your inspection action plan and submitting a six monthly health and safety monitoring report to your Faculty Manager or, for Professional Services, The Assistant Registrar.

You can appoint a Departmental Health and Safety Officer (DHSO) or Health and Safety Liaison Officer (HSLO) to support you with meeting your responsibilities, however, your accountability for health and safety in the department cannot be delegated.

• Health and Safety Leadership Toolkit for Heads of Department (.docx)

Heads of division (Executive Deans and Registrar)

Heads of division are responsible for strategic leadership and management of their faculty/professional services, which includes:

• ensuring strategic plans take account of health and safety risks and effects on employee wellbeing
• monitoring the implementation of the health and safety policy and plan in their faculty and ensuring heads of department are meeting their responsibilities. This includes monitoring the completion of the six monthly health and safety monitoring report by your heads of department/section and reporting on the Division’s health and safety performance by submitting six monthly Faculty & Professional Services Health and Safety Monitoring Summary Report to the Health and Safety Advisory Service.

Members of USG

Members of USG are collectively and individually responsible for the overall health and safety management of the University.

Council

Council has overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the University and the health and safety impact of policy decisions.

Subsidiary companies

The boards of directors for UECS and Wivenhoe House Hotel (WHH) have overall responsibility for the strategic direction and the health and safety impact of policy decisions of their companies.

The Director of Estates and Campus Services has overall accountability for health and safety in UECS and the General Manager of WHH has overall accountability for health and safety in WHH.

Fire safety responsibilities

Please also familiarise yourself with the fire safety responsibilities you have.

Further information

• HSE Leading Health and Safety at Work sets out what leaders are expected to do to comply with the law on health and safety.
• UCEA/USHA guidance on Leadership and Management of Health and Safety in Higher Education Institutions (.pdf)