Uclans Compliance to Health and Safety Regulations - Case Study Example

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF UCLAN’S COMPLIANCE TO HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS By Name Institution Lecturer Course Date Table of Contents Introduction 2 About UCLan 3 Health and Safety Regulations 4 Critical Evaluation of UCLan’s Compliance to the Health and Safety Regulations 5 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 11 Introduction Every year, thousands of people all over the world die in accidents, most of which are preventable. So many people have been injured while several others have been permanently disabled. Indeed, Reese provides statistics from the United States as per 2007. In every 5 seconds, one worker is injured, and in every 10 seconds, one worker is temporarily or permanently disabled (Reese 2008). Every day, about 137 people die from work-related illnesses while 17 others die from work-related injuries. Annually, about 70,000 people are hospitalised in emergency departments for work-related injuries and diseases while about 70 youths die from injuries in workplaces (Reese 2008). Property worth billions of pounds have been damaged while companies have undergone heavy losses in compensating employees, customers and other people who died or were injured within their premises. There are still so many cases pending in courts. It is evident that the issue of occupational health and safety is a major concern for every organisation. Failure to observe OH&S practices can be (actually has been) expensive with approximately $200 billion being lost in terms of compensations, loss of property, administrative expenses, healthcare, lost productivity, and lost wages (Reese 2008). Therefore, it is critical that every institution studies appropriate health and safety regulations and consequently tries as much as possible to abide by them. This report provides a critical review of UCLan’s health and safety management system. It assesses how well the institution is complying with health and safety regulations. It is found that the university is working hard to ensure health and safety of everybody by following health and safety regulations. However, it needs to improve on the area of student and employee participation through provision of necessary training and education. About UCLan UCLan is the short form of the University of Central Lancashire, which is a public university whose main offices and campus are located in Preston, Lancashire, England. The institution was founded in 1828 as the Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Later, it was renamed to Harris Art College, after which the name was changed to Preston Polytechnic and then to Lancashire Polytechnic before its full university status was approved in 1992. Consequently, it was given its current name (UCLan 2016). It is among the largest universities in the United Kingdom with a population of about 38,000 students and staff. The learning institution offers over 600 undergraduate and postgraduate courses and has partnered with other prominent institutes of higher learning all over the world (UCLan 2016). Health and Safety Regulations In the UK, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for setting necessary laws and ensuring conformance. The institution published guidelines, sets approved codes of practice, and passes appropriate regulations alongside their periodic review based continuous studies (HSE 2015). The Health and Safety at Work etc Act of 1974 is the foundation of the UK health and safety law. In general, the Act spell out the general duties and responsibilities of employers towards employees, visitors and members of the public. It also outlines duties that employees have towards employers, fellow employees, and members of the public (HSE 2015). The principle of ‘so far as reasonably practical’ is the overall qualifier of these duties, which means that, for example, measures to prevent or reduce a risk are not necessary if such measures are technically impossible. Instead, employers are required to understand possible risks and then take necessary steps or put in place appropriate measures to tackle them (HSE 2015). Primarily, the employer is required to conduct risk assessment and then document significant findings. The employer should then act accordingly to prevent the occurrence of identified risks or minimise their impact in case of occurrence (HSE 2015). Most of the regulations within the Safety at Work Act provide employers with the freedom to decide how to control identified risks through directions provided by Approved Code of Practice and Guidance (HSE 2015). However, this freedom only applies to risks of low to moderate magnitude. High risks or those whose control measures are extremely expensive do not provide employers with room for decision-making. Instead, the law is very clear about actions that must be taken without consideration of the reasonably practical principle (HSE 2015). Some regulations are general across all industries such Manual Handling Regulations and Display Screen Equipment Regulations. Others are applicable to specific industries such as mining, manufacturing and nuclear because each industry has unique risks (HSE 2015). Critical Evaluation of UCLan’s Compliance to the Health and Safety Regulations The audit conducted covered major areas of health and safety management. In accordance with Urquhart (2011), core areas investigated during the audit include: 1) OH&S programs, policies and plans; 2) Management leadership; 3) Management commitment; 4) OH&S goals and objectives; 5) Employee engagement; 6) Processes, procedures, and practices; 7) Accountability; 8) OH&S tracking and metrics; 9) Hazard identification and control; 10) OH&S training and education; 11) Communication; 12) Program audits; 13) Safety committees; 14) Employee commitment; and The audit shows that the institution is highly committed towards ensuring that the environment is safe for everybody. This commitment is exhibited in the university’s core values, one of which is to “support the health, safety and wellbeing of all” (UCLan 2016a para 2). One area where UCLan has shown great commitment to compliance with health and safety regulations is on programs, policies, and plans. The institution also has well laid processes, procedures, and practices to ensure that every activity within the university complies with safety and health regulations. For example, FM SHE 058 (Procedural Guidance for the Management of Staff or Student Organised Events on the Preston Main Campus) outlines the procedures that must be followed and the acceptable practices when organising staff and student events. The document specifies responsibilities of every stakeholder in such events in accordance with Regulation 3 of the management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (UCLan 2011). UCLan requires that before approval, a suitable and in-depth risk assessment must be conducted and all significant risks documented. Then, event organisers must document appropriate and effective control measures to adopt to ensure optimum levels of health and safety to all involved parties (UCLan 2011). In the document, the university considers it a criminal offence to carry out an event within its premises or involving its staff or students without carrying out necessary and sufficient risk assessment. In case of food provision, the institution requires strict adherence to food hygiene legislation. Event organisers are supposed to furnish the management with Food Safety Management system showing risk assessment conducted, identified risks and control measures that the organisers will adopt. This requirement also applies to people operating food businesses such as canteens, failure to which will result to business closure. Any item to be brought into the university such as electrical equipment must be certified and approved for safety by relevant approval agencies. The institution requires that all such equipments must be checked and consequently approved by relevant representatives such as electricians from the university to approve their safety (UCLan 2011). Planning is a vital part of health and safety management, which UCLan highly upholds. The university requires that event organisers must submit properly laid plans especially on the issue of health and safety management. A plan not only ensures that the event is successful and accomplishes its stated goals effectively, but also ensures that risks are controlled or properly handled in case they occur. Therefore, a properly laid plan indicates who will be doing what, where and when. It also indicates what will be done in case of an unplanned occurrence (UCLan 2011). Moreover, the institution requires effective communication between all involved stakeholders including attendees, representatives from the university, even managers and organisers. Everybody must know the plan so that when things are not going as planned, everybody is aware and knows what to do (UCLan 2011). Another critical area of health and safety management that was reviewed during the audit was fire safety management. The university performs excellently on this aspect as evidenced by its well-laid fire safety management system. For instance, every building has a functional hydrant and fire extinguishers that are checked for operational effectiveness. Health and safety requirements require that premises must have appropriate and effective fire fighting mechanisms (HSE 2015a). In addition and in accordance with regulations, the institution has clear fire exits and escape routes, which are clearly marked. There are stickers and signs at various places showing the direction that people must take in case of fire. However, in one of the buildings, the library, one of the fire exit door was found to open into a car park. Although this might not be a major problem, a car was found parked right in front of the door despite there being a “No Parking” sign. This means that in case of fire, people would easily break the door open from the inside but would not move out because of the parked car. Consequently, it implies that the particular fire exit route is not safe. In fact, it would lead to more injuries and death in case of fire because people would be confused along the long hallway. It is evident that as much as the senior management is trying to adhere to health and safety regulations, some employees are not contributing as necessary. It suggests that such workers do not understand the importance of observing every bit of health and safety policies and the seriousness of the slightest mistake possible. The library manager might not have seen the car parked in front of the door but librarians and other workers in the building might have seen it but failed to understand the seriousness of such as seemingly slight mistake. Management leadership is wanting because it shows that the management is not doing everything necessary to create a culture of safety. Therefore, it is important that every person in this institution understands all about health and safety so that everybody will contribute towards making the university as safe place for all. During the audit, a survey was done using students taking different courses in the institution. Survey results indicated that students, in general, do not understand the importance of various health and safety policies, practices, and processes that the university has established and consequently communicated through posters. One area of interest is on fire safety and particularly assembling at designated points for head count. Another area of interest is concerning events organisation especially requirements for approval. In fact, a majority of students felt that the requirements were simply meant to avoid holding events within the institution. A survey using staff members also indicated that a number of them do not understand the importance of certain practices and procedures. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act of 1974 requires that employers must provide employees with necessary training, education, instruction and/or supervision to ensure their health and safety (HSE 2015a). A critical analysis of UCLan based on these findings and in accordance with this requirement shows that the university is performing poorly. It has failed to involve all its key stakeholders by empowering them through necessary education and training. If staff members and students do not understand the importance of every piece of policy and procedure, then they will not actively contribute to their safety. Therefore, it is critical that the institution conducts training programs for students and staff members because they are the main stakeholders. In the area of hazard identification and control, the university is conforming with health and safety legislation, which requires organisations to conduct necessary and effective risk assessment and then install necessary control measures (HSE 2015). Conformance with this piece of legislation is evidenced by the availability of updated risk assessment documents in the office of Safety, Health & Environment. These documents were easily accessible upon request. They rank risks based on probability of occurrence and severity whereby probability of occurrence calculated from experiences. In addition, the university requires that before any project is approved, a risk assessment must be completed and consequently submitted for evaluation. Once risks have been identified, control measures are adopted immediately. For example, smoke detectors have been installed in halls of residence after a recent case of fire in one of the rooms. There was also a health issue where infected water was suspected to have caused health problems among students. Since then, water being supplied to the institution is analysed on an hourly basis to ensure that the school community receives only high quality and safe water. Conclusion Health and safety regulations are primarily aimed at ensuring the health and safety of employers, employees, and members of the public. Adherence to these regulations would go a long way in preventing deaths, injuries, diseases, loss of property and legal suits, which would in turn save institutions millions of pounds. A critical evaluation of UCLan’s health and safety management shows that the institution complies with health and safety regulations although there are some grey areas that need to be checked. The university should empower its community to actively contribute towards health and safety of everybody through training and education. Bibliography Health and Safety Executive 2015, Health and Safety Regulation…. A Short Guide. [Online] Retrieved from [Accessed January 18, 2016]. Health and Safety Executive 2015a, Provide Training and Information. [Online] Retrieved from [Accessed January 18, 2016]. Reese, CD 2008, Occupational Health and Safety Management: A Practical Approach (2nd ed.). Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. UCLan 2016, About UCLan 2016. [Online] Retrieved from [Accessed January 18, 2016]. UCLan 2016a, Mission and Values. [Online] Retrieved from [Accessed January 18, 2016]. UCLan 2011, FM SHE 058: Procedural Guidance for the Management of Staff or Student Organised Events on the Preston Main Campus. UCLan. Urquhart, J 2011, Workplace Health and Safety Management Systems: D.I.Guide. Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press. Read More