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

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.

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.