Safety Office School Safety

School Safety Officers

Within the University's Health and Safety Policy formal responsibility for School health and safety arrangements is delegated to Heads of School. The Head of School may appoint a School Safety Officer to assist him/her in discharging this responsibility. The appointment of a SSO however does not remove any responsibility from those in the normal line of management.

 

The function of the School Safety Officer is to advise the Head of School on health and safety matters. To provide this advice the SSO should liaise closely with the University Safety Officer. SSOs should be relatively senior members of staff, thereby possessing sufficient experience, authority and responsibility, and who should normally be expected to devote only part of their time to health and safety work. Sufficient resources in terms of time, finance and space must be allocated to the SSO to allow him/her to adequately carry out this role.

 

School Radiation Protection Supervisors

It is a requirement of the Ionising Radiation Regulations that Radiation Protection Supervisors are appointed to provide local control and supervision of work with ionising radiation. In those Schools that use ionising radiation it is the responsibility of the Head of School to ensure that a suitable Radiation Protection Supervisor is appointed. A list of typical duties is contained in Section 4.5.1 of Effective Safety Management.

 

The Radiation Protection Supervisor should be a senior member of staff capable of working with the delegated authority of the Head of School in relation to the responsibilities associated with work involving ionising radiation. In larger Schools some of the day-to-day duties may be delegated to other members of the School's staff, in which case these individuals will also need to be appointed in writing and given a list of duties which have been delegated to them.

 

The Radiation Protection Supervisor should liaise closely with the University Safety Office. Radiation Protection Supervisors should normally only be required to devote part of their time to radiation protection work. To enable them to carry out the role adequately they should be allocated adequate resources by way of time, finances and space. It is also essential that they are connected to the University's IT network to enable communication with the Safety Office and the dissemination of information.

 

To enable the Radiation Protection Supervisor to effectively discharge their responsibilities the Head of School shall be responsible for ensuring that they have been suitable trained. This training should involve attendance on a course approved by the Safety Office. The Safety Office will provide a contribution towards the cost of attendance. Where numbers permit the training will be provided in-house by an external provider in which case this will be fully funded by the Safety Office.

 

In order that maximum value may be obtained from the training provided and the individuals experience an appointment as a Radiation Protection Supervisor should normally be for a minimum of 5 years.

 

School Laser Safety Officers

Any School in which lasers are class 3A or above are used should have a School Laser Supervisor appointed by the Head of School. The role of the School Laser Supervisor is to oversee the safe operation of these in accordance with the CVCP notes of guidance on lasers. A list of model duties for a School Laser Supervisor is included in Section 4.6.1 of the Effective Safety Management Document.

 

The appointment should be in writing with a copy sent to the Safety Office.

 

The School Laser Supervisor should have sufficient knowledge and experience of the type of laser work carried out within School and be of sufficient seniority to work with the delegated authority of the Head of School.

 

In Schools using lower hazard lasers ie class 1 and 2 the requirements are simple and predominately administrative and do not a specific appointment to oversee work with these devices. The supervision of these low power lasers could fall within the remit of the School Safety Officer.

 

The University Laser Safety Officer responds to the Safety Office and any requests for laser safety advice from the LSO should be made via the Safety Office in the first instance.

 

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