Health, Safety and Environment Committee

Terms of Reference

2024/25

Assurance

  1. To act on behalf of, and to advise, Senate and Council and senior management on matters of health, safety and environmental policy, structure and communications; and to recommend any action necessary to ensure the health and safety of staff, students and members of the public (including contractors and visitors to University premises).
  2. To keep under review the University’s legal and statutory obligations with regard to health, safety and environmental regulation compliance and to identify through regular monitoring and bring to the attention of senior management and/or Senate and Council areas where compliance is at risk or not being achieved.
  3. To have oversight and agree the strategic approach to be adopted in relation to Health, Safety, Environmental and Sustainability management.
  4. To consider and act on reports, both written and verbal, on the health, safety and environmental performance and plans of schools and professional services.
  5. To consider reports on health and safety and environmental audits, staff training statistics, accident statistics, communications with enforcing authorities, and to make recommendations to relevant University management of any corrective action required.
  6. To consider aggregated absence statistics and reasons for such absences on a similar basis.
  7. To consider reports from sub-committees which have been established to ensure compliance with legal requirements; eg the Radiological Protection sub-committee.
  8. To consider updates on changing legislation and to review and assist in the development of policies and procedures to enable the University to meet all statutory requirements
  9. To ensure all levels of University management are aware of their safety and environmental obligations and through the receipt of regular monitoring reports to ensure these obligations are being discharged appropriately.
  10. To consider reports and review personal safety for staff, students and visitors on University premises, particularly where it could impinge on health and safety.
  11. To monitor staff training and development programmes as they relate to health, safety and environmental issues to ensure appropriate training is provided to enable all managers safely to discharge their duties.
  12. To review reports on the progress of the University Environmental Management System.

Standard duties

  1. To report after each meeting to Senate and Council on health, safety and environmental activities and provide Senate and Council with the information required to discharge their duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) and the Register of Environmental Legislation.
  2. To review annually its Terms of Reference.
  3. To review annually its effectiveness.
  4. To refer business to other Committees as it sees fit.
  5. To set up and oversee sub groups of the committee and to commission reports from these sub groups as necessary to assist the Committee in its duties, and to produce terms of reference for these groups.