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Corporate Service Committees

 

Requirements

Each corporate service must convene a Service Health and Safety Committee three times a year.
The committee’s main purpose is to enable consultation between management and trade union representatives on health and safety issues; it also advises the Head of Service on health and safety issues and enables monitoring of health and safety systems.

Model terms of reference

  • To review service health and safety systems, monitoring practices and accident figures and trends, and ensure a uniform approach to health and safety.
  • To consider reports, correspondence or relevant issues from trade union safety representatives, members of staff, outside agencies and enforcing authorities.
  • Relevant feedback from previous University Health and Safety Committees should be presented to ensure effective sharing of information.

Organisation

  • The corporate services are defined in Appendix 1 – the diagram of the University Health and Safety Reporting Structure
  • Committees should review service systems and not become reporting centres for operational issues that should be dealt with locally by managers.
  • Each service committee should meet three times a year in advance of the University Health and Safety Committee so it can send salient items up to that agenda.
  • The service must publish meeting dates at least one term in advance, where staff can see them.
  • Meetings should not be cancelled or postponed except in exceptional circumstances, when the rearranged date should be announced as soon as possible.
  • Responsibility for meeting arrangements and facilitation, as well as taking, recording & distributing minutes lies with administrative support to the Head of Service.
  • Co-opted advisers should attend only that section of the meeting to which they are contributing directly
  • Minutes should be circulated to all invited members of the Committee and made available for all staff to view as soon as possible after the meeting.
  • An agenda and draft previous minutes should be sent to all invited members 7 days prior to the committee.

Model membership

  • Service Health and Safety Committees must invite an equal membership of managers and trade union safety representatives.
  • The Head of Service must chair Service Health & Safety Committees.
  • The Head of Service should appoint management representatives with sufficient authority to give proper considerations to views and recommendations.
  • The Health and Safety Manager (or nominated representative) must be invited to attend.
  • Each recognised trade union must be invited to nominate safety representatives to attend.
  • Co-opted advisers could include Service Managers from the cross-cutting services (e.g. Estates, RCS, HR and ISS), Fire Safety Managers, Health and Safety Co-ordinators, Occupational Health Managers, student representatives and other specialist advisers who attend to report on campus-wide initiatives and issues.

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