Audit and Inspection information
School Self-InspectionsAs part of the University safety management system, schools need to undertake their own safety inspections and keep a written record of having done so. The frequency of the inspection will depend on the risks in the school. The school needs to do an action plan to follow up any actions the inspection has identified and then report back on this process as part of the annual safety report. There is a link to the safety management system booklet and the self inspections checklists below.
School Health and Safety checklists are provided in word processor enabled file types to assist Schools / Services with their self inspections. They are not exhaustive, and do not necessarilly relate to exact legal requirements but are intended to work with the annual reporting and inspection programmes at the University.
University Safety Office Audits and InspectionsThe University Safety Office undertakes audits of the Schools and other units on a more or less regular basis. These are planned centrally and follow a nationally formulated management system and set of protocols. Where possible the audit will co-incide with an inspection of the workplace. The inspections that the USO also does are more informal and are intended to test the local management and procedures to see if they are suitable, sufficient and followed in the School. All visits will be agreed in advance. The guidance document issued in advance can be accessed below.
When the USO undertake general inspections the School Safety Officer (or a deputy) should always be present and the Union Safety Representatives are invited to attend. Ideally, the Head of School should be available to receive feedback on the inspection findings prior to the report being sent.
The USO also undertake other forms of inspection (specialist inspections, topic inspections and similar) where there may not have been sufficient time to organise full representation of all the parties in advance. There are also some inspections that are undertaken without notice, for example inspections of Buildings (as opposed to the activities being undertaken in them).
Enforcing Authority Inspections and AuditsThe Health and Safety Executive also undertake inspections (and sometimes audits) and the USO will try to always have a member of the team present for these visits. These are routinely undertaken without notice at the convenience of the Inspector. Normally the USO is unaware of the HSE's intention to inspect.
The Environment Agency (EA) A also undertake inspections and audits in a similar manner to the HSE - but these are much more focused on the more limited issues - normally waste issues. These are often also unannounced visits.
Other Audits and InspectionsOcassionally external bodies such as our insurers may wish to visit to audit the robustness of the safety management system. These visits will be planned well in advance and schools notified.
The last external audit of safety at the University was undertaken in December 2006 and the report has been sent to the University Safety Committee, the EB and the Unions. A copy of the report can be obtained from the University Safety Office or from the
statistics page (if you are loged in).
Audit & inspection documents