School Committees
Requirements
- Each school must convene a School 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 School on health and safety issues and enables monitoring of health and safety systems.
- Model terms of reference
- To review school 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 and Faculty Health and Safety Committees should be presented to ensure effective sharing of information
Organisation
- Each school committee should meet in advance of the Faculty and University Health and Safety Committees so it can send salient items up to those agendas.
- Committees should review health and safety systems relevant across the school and not become reporting centres for operational issues that should be dealt with by local managers
- The school 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 School.
- 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
- School Health and Safety Committees must invite an equal membership of managers and trade union safety representatives.
- The Head of School must chair School Health & Safety Committees.
- The Head of School should appoint management representatives with sufficient authority to give proper consideration 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.