This document outlines the health and safety responsibilities of principal investigators and managers at the University of Nottingham. It discusses why health and safety is important from legal, financial, and reputational perspectives. It also summarizes key UK health and safety laws and regulations, such as the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. The document emphasizes that principal investigators and managers are legally responsible for ensuring risk assessments are conducted, staff receive proper training, hazardous activities are properly supervised, and that health and safety is adequately monitored. Failure to meet these responsibilities could result in prosecution, fines, and civil liability.

1. Leading Health and Safety
at Work
Health and Safety Management Responsibilities
of Principal Investigators and Managers

2. Why Health and Safety Is Important
• Reputation
– University of Nottingham aims for excellence in
teaching and research
– Quality in teaching and research is achieved
through quality in all aspects of operations.
– Bad publicity from unsafe, unhealthy or
environmentally damaging events undermines
this.
• Moral imperative
– To provide a safe and healthy working
environment
– Clear conscience

3. Why Health and Safety Is Important
• Legal requirements
– Law specifies standards
– Penalties if not followed
• Financial Reasons
– Staff absences
– Lost output/data
– Damaged equipment
– Compensation pay-outs and insurance
premiums
– Uninsured costs >>> Insured costs

4. Legal Environment
• Statutory Law
• Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
• Duties towards employees, students and visitors
– Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, health, safety
and welfare at work
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
– Duties on manager to ensure the above
– Risk assessment!!!
• Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
– Death resulting from systemic failures to manage health and safety
– Implies senior management failures in risk management
– See Podcast for further information

5. Penalties
• Prosecution – fines and imprisonment.
• Prohibition Notice – stop work now
• Improvement notices – put certain measure in
place within a specified time
• Corporate Manslaughter Penalties
– Unlimited fine
– Publicity order

6. Civil Liability
• Common Law Duty of Care owed to employees,
students & visitors.
• Failure can result in personal injury claims for
negligence.

7. Organisation – lines of responsibility
School/Section
Safety Officers
Lab safety
Monitors
Managers/PIs/
Snr Academics
Registrar
Council
Head of
School/Service
n
University
Safety Officer
Individuals
Responsibility
Advice
Information
Safety
Committee

8. Safety Responsibilities
• Risk assessment
• Training
• Competency
• Supervision
• Monitoring
• Detailed information can be found in the University’s Safety
Management Standard:
‘Effective Safety Management’: http://nottingham.ac.uk/safety/safety-
management/esm/effective-safety.aspx

9. Risk Assessment
• For all hazardous activities/procedures
• New procedures
• New & existing equipment
• Written SOPs [standard operating procedures]
• Signed off by PI/Snr academic/manager

10. Risk Assessment continued
• Procedural
– Substances [ e.g.chemicals, biological material]
– Equipment
– Manual handling
– Cylinders
– Cryogenics
• DSE
• Lone working

11. Training & Competence
• Identify training needs – initial & ongoing
• Ensure training delivered by competent person
• Assess competency
• Record training and attainment of competency
(specific record form, PSRF or e lab book)

12. Training Delivery
• University & External courses
• Local induction
• Job/task specific training (techniques & equipment)
• Refresher training
– When procedure/equipment changes
– High risk operations
– Infrequent operations
– Following accident/incident
– Where competency is in question

13. Competency Assessment
• Assess practical skills & knowledge
• Assessment by competent person
• Methods of assessment
• Written test [ e.g. induction questionnaire
• Verbal discussion/questioning
• Observation [ for practical tasks]
• Self assessment [ where appropriate]
• Continual assessment – ensure standards maintained

14. Supervision
Levels of supervision are
determined by:
• the severity of the hazard
and
• the complexity of the
control measures
required to reduce risk
• the competence of the
person
Source HSE – HSG 65

15. Monitoring
• Active monitoring
– Local housekeeping checks – recorded.
– Regular meetings [ present findings of above]
– Regular entry into the lab by PI – to check
– School safety inspections & audits
• Accident/incident/near misses
– Reported
– Investigated

16. Remember
• You can delegate safety management duties
• You cannot delegate legal responsibility
• You remain accountable in law for the safety of
students/staff that you manage/supervise