3. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Who are we?
• Newcastle University Health and Safety Office
• A team of health and safety professionals
• We have seen the effects of getting it wrong
– Serious Injuries
– Prosecutions
– Notices
– Publicity
• We want you to get it right
4. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Outcomes of session
By the end of the session you should
have a basic awareness of the Health
and Safety issues of managing a
museum or other attraction.
And an indication of where to go for more
information and assistance
5. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Outcomes of session
This session contributes towards the module aims
to:
• be familiar with the requirements of health and safety
legislation in the public and private areas of a museum, gallery
or heritage site
• be familiar with the issues relating to children and volunteers in
the heritage sector
• have begun to understand the importance of training
• be familiar with the concept of strategic planning
• be aware of the importance of developing policies, procedures
and good practice in the management of people, including
communications, involvement and motivation
6. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Why Health and Safety 1
A Roman Perspective
Lead miners were known to die early
Slaves were sent to the
mines as a punishment
Finally link between lead
and ill health established
Lead is now recognized
as a neuro-toxin and poison
More recently in the USA it was proposed that only old people
work with asbestos as they won‟t have time to die from asbestosis
7. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Development of UK
Legislation
Mid C19th the first Factories Acts
Various other industry specific safety Acts
The Flixborough Disaster
The Robens Commission
1974 The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
Risk Assessed regulation as the new „fashion‟
8. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Why Health and Safety 3
Motivations
The four main motivations are:
Economic benefit
Reduced losses – accidents cost a lot – mostly
uninsurable
Moral Imperative
Seen to be bad to kill people – Clapham Junction
Legal imperative
Not good for business to get prosecuted
Institutional drive
Organisation wants to ensure it knows what it is doing
and why – so establishes rules and policies
9. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Health and Safety at Work Act
(HASAWA)
Covers all work activities
Requires Safety Policies (all but
smallest Co‟s.)
“So far as is reasonably
practicable”
Applies to the Self Employed
Uses Regulations and
Approved Codes of Practice for
the details.
10. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
HASAWA S2
“It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure,
so far as is reasonably practicable, the health,
safety and welfare at work of all his
employees.”
Especially by:
- Maintenance of plant
- Safe handling of materials
- Instruction and training
- Safe and Healthy workplaces
11. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
HASAWA S3
Employers must
ensure, so far as is
reasonably practicable,
that persons not in their
employment are not
exposed to risks to their
health and safety.
E.g. members of the public, children, contractors etc.
13. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
HASAWA S7
“It shall be the duty of every employee while
at work”
to take reasonable care for the health and
safety of himself and of other persons who may
be affected by his acts or omissions at work;
to co-operate with his employer so far as is
necessary to enable that duty to be complied
with.
14. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
HASAWA S8
“No person shall intentionally or
recklessly interfere with or misuse
anything provided in the interests of
health, safety or welfare in pursuance
of any of the relevant statutory
provisions.”
Use of fire extinguishers to hold open
fire doors – is it illegal?
15. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Statute/Criminal Law
HSWA and Regulations
Breaches are criminal offences
Purpose is preventative and punishment
Penalties are fines (not insured) and
prison (rare)
Enforced by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE)
16. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Common/Civil Law
Based on a general duty of care and
negligence
Derived from judicial precedent
Purpose is compensation (insured costs)
Action taken by an individual (civil court)
Employers are vicariously liable for employee
actions
Maybe contributory negligence by employee
17. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
The Costs of Failure
Failure to manage health and safety can result
in:
• prosecution,
fines and imprisonment
• compensation claims
• loss of output or service
• replacement costs
• loss of reputation
18. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Hypothetical Case Story
Member of public trips on stairs, is the
museum liable?
Does it change it if the carpet is loose?
What if the stairs were outside?
What if the lights had failed?
What other factors could be in play?
19. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Safety Management
The Safety Policy
– Required by HASAWA
The Risk Assessment
– Required by the
“Management Regulations” 1999
Emergency Plans
– Required for some instances
– e.g. fire evacuation,
– especially for disabled persons
20. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Safety Management
Imperative for good business management
Public enquiry‟s continually identify failure of
safety management as the prime cause of
disasters.
Herald of Free Enterprise / Costa Concordia
Bradford Fire / Hillsbrough
Hatfield/ Clapham rail crashes
Piper Alpha
Risk Assessment is main driver for all new
safety legislation worldwide
21. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Risk Assessment
Risk Assessments identify
Main hazards
Who is at risk
Probability of event happening
How to protect against the event
What is “reasonably practicable”
What records need to be kept
Easy method for
Risk Assessment is
provided by the HSE
and called the “5
Steps” method. See
HSE website at
www.hse.gov.uk and
look in the free
leaflets section.
See www.hse.gov.uk/risk/index.htm
See www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg163.pdf
23. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Risk Assessment –
Further Assistance
HSE website links are particularly good – especially
An Introduction to health and safety
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg259.pdf
Five Steps to Risk Assessment
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg163.pdf
The University Safety Office website
http://www.safety.ncl.ac.uk/
IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health)
www.iosh.co.uk
(IOSH is one of the worlds bodies for safety
professionals)
26. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
What risks are present here – and how
are they controlled?
Look at :
Falls from
height,
Access
(DDA),
Egress,
Security,
Lighting,
Falling
objects,
Smoke and
Fire control.
27. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Fire and Emergency Escape
issues
• How do you
know to leave if
your deaf?
• How does the
wheelchair user
evacuate?
• Who uses the
Evac chair and
are they trained
for it?
• If there is a fire
where do you
go?
• How do I raise
the alarm?
33. Safety Office
www.safety.ncl.ac.uk
Who looks after the
maintenance?
All that roofline and windows.
“Work at Height Regulations”
So if you are not to use ladders
how do you clean windows?
Don‟t forget you also have a
duty to the contractors.