Workplace safety
Keeping your work activities safe
General workplace safety
Purpose: Summarising the basic requirements for a safe and healthy work environment, covering areas such as lighting, workstations and seating, facilities for rest and to eat meals, and maintenance.
Resource: HSE workplace health, safety and welfare
Additional resources
Individual Risk Assessment for vulnerable staff
Purpose: This risk assessment assesses individual staff risk with the aim of safeguarding University staff at most risk of adverse or serious reactions to infectious diseases or respiratory illnesses based on any emerging data and evidence.
Resource: Individual risk assessment v7 (Office document, 73kB)
Relevant for: People at risk of adverse or serious reaactions to infectious diseases or respiratory illness.
Lone working
Purpose: Outlining potential hazards and describing practical steps to minimise risks to ensure lone working is performed in a controlled and co-ordinated manner.
How to use: Schools and services should develop their own local rules based on the principles of measured risk management.
Resource: Lone working guidance
Relevant for: Managers of lone workers
Additional resource: SafeZone for lone working
External resource: Bristol City Council Lone Worker Protection Service
Manual handling
Purpose: Preventing manual handling injuries in the University and protecting staff when they are the transporting or supporting loads by hand or bodily force.
Resource: Manual handling guidance
Relevant for: Representatives from schools and services.
External resource: HSE advice on managing manual handling risks
New and expectant mothers at work
Purpose: Providing information on the extra hazards associated with work that may be relevant to a new or expectant mother, actions for assessing and mitigating the risks, and a checklist to identify specific hazards for a risk assessment.
How to use: The checklist outlines a large variety of hazards, from working with display screen equipment to more specialised work with embryotoxic chemicals. The checklist should be used to produce a risk assessment by line managers or supervisors, including relevant sections for the individual’s work or study.
Resource: New and expectant mothers guidance and checklist
Relevant for: New and expectant mothers and their line managers or supervisors.
Noise at work
Purpose: Creating a management system to protect employees from excessive noise at work, including risk assessments, measures to reduce noise exposure, training for employees, and health surveillance if appropriate.
Resource: Controlling the risks from noise at work
Relevant for: Managers in schools and services.
PAT testing
Purpose: Controlling risks from the use of electricity to prevent danger and injury, and to comply with regulations.
Resource: Portable appliance testing (PAT) guidance
External resources:
Vibrations at work
Purpose: Outlining measures to protect employees from the risks of hand-arm or whole-body vibration at work.
Resource: Controlling the risks of vibrations at work
Relevant for: All schools and services with staff using hand-held power tools or equipment or regular off-road driving causing vibrations.
Work experience
Purpose: Health and safety protection during work experience placements.
Resource: Work experience guidance
Relevant for: Schools and services running work experience placements.
Working at height
Purpose: Providing information on working at height from the Health and Safety Executive, including a guide describing what managers need to do to protect staff and students from falls from height.
Resource: HSE working at height webpage
Relevant for: Managers