Workplace Health and Safety Committee

Workplace Health and Safety Committee reports to University Executive Board.

Terms of reference

Objectives and outcomes

The purpose of the Workplace Health and Safety Committee (WHSC) is to act primarily as an advisory committee, with specific recommendatory and decision-making powers in relation to Health and Safety Policy, procedures and guidance. The Committee reports to the University Executive Board (UEB), focusing on Workplace Health, and Safety of staff and students across the University, and is a forum for University-wide workplace health and safety issues across its academic faculties, schools, departments, centres and institutions, professional services departments and subsidiary companies.

The aim of the WHSC is to:

Promote the continuous development and improvement in workplace health and safety across all our work activities and premises of the university for the benefit of staff, students, visitors and contractors

Provide assurance to UEB that consultation on workplace health and safety arrangements in place are effective

Provide a forum for tripartite consultation with staff, trade union representatives and management. To meet the requirements of the Safety Committees and Safety Representatives Regulations (1977) and the Health and Safety (consultation with Employees) Regulations (1996).

Remit

The remit of the Committee under the following core, agenda-aligned headings, is:

(a) Strategic Development, Planning, and Performance Monitoring to recommend to UEB any resourcing needs: items for consideration and/or decision

To align workplace health and safety to the University Strategy 2023
To oversee and enable consultation of the following:
- To monitor Workplace Health and safety performance throughout the University, to ensure legislative compliance and performance against health and safety (K)PIs and review investigations of significant failures and associated remedial actions
- To be consulted on and monitoring appropriate KPIs
- To be consulted on the provision of workplace health, and safety training and communications and evaluation of their effectiveness
- To engage with the development of institution-wide health & safety initiatives
- To have a role in subcommittees/ task and finish groups and their effectiveness
- Appropriate consultation and engagement with staff (including Trade Unions) and students on Health and Safety matters.
- Engendering a culture of shared interest
- To share best practice across the university and to celebrate success on Health and Safety across the University.

(b) Policy and Regulatory Matters

To be consulted on the revision and implementation of the University’s Health and Safety and Policy Statement and Arrangements as part of its recommendation for UEB approval
To recommend the University-wide Health and Safety Policy to UEB and onward to Council for approval
To approve health and safety policy within its remit , and delegate authority to the Director of Health and Safety to approve Health and Safety procedures/guidelines/codes of practice
To recommend for UEB endorsement an Annual report by the Director of Health and Safety that will provide an opinion, and assurance to UEB, Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) and Council that the University is satisfying its legal, regulatory and consultative responsibilities, and adequacy of the health and safety management arrangements
To receive items of significance from such specialist groups and sector associations that have a role in Health and Safety
To take into consideration equality, diversity and inclusion implications when implementing Health and Safety Policy and UK Regulatory requirements.

Authority

The WHSC is principally a consultative body, with specific recommendatory and decision-making powers. It may also make recommendations and/or refer items upwards to UEB and other University committees for advice or decision as appropriate. To consider any matters within the Committee’s remit which are referred by other Committees and to discuss any health and safety issue that is placed on the agenda, via the Chair, by any member of the University community.

WHSC has no direct budgetary control, or financial decision-making authority.

Contact us

Chair: Dr Joss Ivory

For agenda and papers: Philip Evans
Senior Governance and Assurance Officer

philip.evans@york.ac.uk
+44 (0)1904 324031

Reporting to University Executive Board (UEB)

WHSC is a management sub-committee/group of UEB and reports directly to it:

Annually via the Health and Safety Policy and Annual Assurance report that outlines position and progress in all areas of health and safety that fall under the University’s Health and Safety statutory and regulatory obligations, along with an update on progress relating to the University’s Health and Safety Framework
Quarterly via standardised performance and progress reports, although in effect this is three times per year when the Annual Assurance report replaces the relevant quarterly report
Ad hoc where urgent matters arise through relevant reporting mechanisms.

Reporting to the committee

Workplace Health and Safety Committee will establish sub-committees/ task and finish groups, as appropriate, to progress specific activities related to areas of its remit.

There are a number of sub-groups/committees of HSWC representing all areas of Workplace Health and Safety which provide regular reports to the committee, in the form of updates drawn from minutes of their recent meetings and are also empowered to submit other reports and/or proposals for endorsement or approval, which may arise in the course of its business.

These sub-groups are as follows:

Biological Agents Safety Committee
Ionising Radiation Safety Group
Laser Safety Group
Faculty H&S committees

Four additional sub-groups

Estate related H&S statutory compliance
Fire Safety
Occupational /Workplace Health and Wellbeing
Health and Safety Development and Training

The above groups/committees are empowered to establish their own sub-committees or boards on a standing or task-and-finish basis.

Meeting frequency

Workplace Health and Safety Committee will meet a minimum of three times per year.

Meeting modes

Meetings to be held either in-person, online or via a hybrid format, subject to agreement by members.

Membership

The Committee’s membership comprises the membership categories: ex officio and nominated representatives of academic faculties and professional support services and the student voice.

Other membership considerations

Membership will be periodically reviewed by the Committee itself on behalf of UEB, through approval by the Committee Chair.

Membership is otherwise coterminous with the individual’s appointment term.

Gender balance and wider EDI considerations should be factored into the Committee’s reflection on its own size and composition. The membership will be:

Representative of the whole University, all staff categories across the community
Representatives who fulfil the Health and Safety Consultative Committee function under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
To embrace the principles of Tripartism (employers, employees and trade unions)
To enable consensus and cooperation on Health and Safety.

Academic members are drawn from across the three academic faculties and between them have sufficient experience to be able to speak to health and safety management from a range of levels and experiences. In consultation with the Chair, members may authorise an appropriate colleague to represent them if they are unable to attend a meeting. Individual colleagues may be invited to attend in order to advise and inform on select items as and when the need arises.

Quorum

50% of members, or 50%+ 1 member where the number of members is not even.

Ex Officio members

The Chief Financial and Operating Officer (Chair): Nigel Alcock
The Director of Health and Safety: Dev Agarwal
The University Occupational Health Advisor: Gary Malcolm
The University Fire Safety Officer: Paul Mullins
The Director of Human Resources or a member of the HR senior management team:
- Suzy Shelton
The Deans of Faculty
- Professor Andy Dougill (Sciences)
- Professor Duncan Petrie (Arts and Humanities)
- Professor Karen Rowlingson (Social Sciences)

The Chair of the Biological Agents Safety Committee: Professor Luke Alphey
The Chair of the Ionising Radiation Safety Group: Martyn Godwin
The Chair of the Laser Safety Group: Martyn Godwin

Students' Union representative

Representative from University of York Students' Union
- Geoff Ward, YSU Health and Safety Development Coordinator

One Head of School/Department/Professional Support from each Faculty Executive Board (one from each of the three faculties)

Faculty of Arts and Humanities
- Ros Roberts (Interim Director of Faculty Operations, Arts & Humanities)
Faculty of Sciences
- Andy Firth (Faculty Technical Operations Manager)
Faculty of Social Sciences
- Jamie Holliday (Director of Faculty Operations, Social Sciences)

Technical Staff representative

Richard Hagan (Archaeology) until 31 July 2025

Student and Academic Services representative

Tom Banham (Interim Academic Registrar)

Trade Union representatives

UNISON (term of office 3 years)
- Chris Fielding, Student and Academic Services (until 31 July 2025)
UNITE (term of office 3 years)
- Michael Walker, Computer Science (until 31 July 2025)
UCU (term of office 3 years)
- Christopher Crispin-Bailey, Computer Science (until 31 July 2025)

In attendance

Dr Philip Evans, Senior Governance and Assurance Officer (Secretary)
Dr David Nelson, University Biosafety Officer
Richard Walker, Assistant Director (Strategic Programmes), DTEF
Roger Ward, Director of Estates and Campus Development
Lisa Woods, Director of Accommodation, Campus and Commercial Services
Chris Goodman-Bowen, Head of Campus Safety
TBC, Director of Student Life and Wellbeing
Representative of the IPC
- Ben Flowerdew (Teaching and Subject Area Lead for Science and Engineering)
Representatives from the Workplace Health and Safety Office team as required