Health, Safety, Welfare and Environment Committee (OBUHSN-13)

This Health and Safety Notice should be read and understood by all employees of Oxford Brookes University. Staff should inform visitors of the relevant sections of this Health and Safety Notice. Where appropriate it should also be brought to the attention of the members of the student body.

The health and safety of children and young persons at an Oxford Brookes University site is covered in OBUHSN-15.

The health and safety of contractors at an Oxford Brookes University site is covered in OBUHSN-14.

The University, as the occupier of its premises, owes a "common duty of care" to its visitors, i.e. a duty to take such care as is reasonable in the circumstances, to see that visitors will be safe in using the premises to which they are invited or permitted access. It has a higher duty of care to children, as the University must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults.

Members of staff who invite visitors onto any University site must ensure that their visitors report to the appropriate site reception. If the site does not have a reception then the visitor must report directly to the person(s) that they are visiting. The member of staff is also responsible for the health and safety of the visitor while on site and must make them aware of the fire and emergency procedures and any special procedures within the area that they are visiting.

If the visitor has a disability and/or restricted mobility the person responsible for the visitor must be aware how to evacuate them safely in the event of an emergency.

Visitors who wish to use any machinery or laboratory equipment must first obtain permission from the relevant Dean of Faculty/Director of Directorate or the member of staff responsible for machinery or equipment. The person in charge of the machine room or laboratory must be informed. All work must be done under supervision and in accordance with the Faculty/Directorate’s health and safety policy and local codes of practice.

Students must obtain the permission of their Dean of Faculty/Director of Directorate before they invite any visitor onto a University teaching site. Thereafter the host student is responsible for the health and safety of the visitor while on site and must advise the visitor of relevant health and safety precautions, emergency and fire procedures.

Students inviting visitors to Halls of Residence or Small Halls of Residence must abide by the regulations of that Hall.

People visiting the public areas of University must be made fully aware of the University's fire and emergency procedures. This is achieved by appropriate signage around the University premises.

Members of the public attending events at an Oxford Brookes University site(s) will be classified as casual visitors. It will be the responsibility of the person in charge of the event to make casual visitors aware of relevant health and safety precautions, emergency and fire procedures.

The children of casual visitors attending a reception/sports event will be the responsibility of the parent(s)/guardian(s). Failure to control children adequately could result in the person(s) being asked to leave.

Members of University staff working/visiting in a Faculty/Directorate that is not their normal place of work must be made aware of any relevant health and safety precautions.

It will be the responsibility of the Dean of Faculty/Director of Directorate to ensure that any person undertaking work experience within their Faculty/Directorate are fully supervised and a Risk Assessment OBUHSN-36 completed. The adults/minors must be given induction training. 

The basic induction programme must include the following:

• fire precautions and the action to be taken if the fire alarm sounds,
• the action to be taken if they discover a fire,
• the location of first-aid facilities,
• the details of any health precautions and procedures necessary;
• the requirements for wearing personal protective equipment;
• the location of welfare facilities
• the procedures for accident/incident reporting
• made aware of any relevant risk assessments

Restrictions apply to persons under the age of 18. See OBUHSN-15, Children and Young Persons in The University.

The risk assessment must make the assumption that they are likely to be inexperienced and untrained and may not pay enough attention to safety.

They must not be allowed to do work (which for example)

• cannot be adapted to meet any physical or mental limitations that they may have
• exposes them to substances which are toxic or cause cancer
• exposes them to radiation
• involves extreme heat, noise or vibration

Examples of types of activities which a risk assessment is likely to conclude to be unsuitable for young persons is the use of dough mixers, meat mincing machines, wire stitching machines and guillotines.

All staff involved in the visit of adults/minors on work experience should be made aware of:

• the importance of maintaining effective supervision of adults/minors at all times,
• how to provide suitable and sufficient training;
• the statutory restrictions on children/young persons.

Issue: 05 July 2019