Measuring Up

1
Measuring Up

• Assessing Health and Safety at University of
  Canterbury

2
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• A cluster of serious harm events
• Investigation into serious harms revealed that
  there were some gaps between what UC intended to
  have in place, and what was actually in place in
  the departments and service units
• Just how big a problem did we have on our hands?
  There were more questions than answers

3
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• A number of assessments were commissioned
• These included
• HSNO compliance
• Radiation management
• Noise surveys
• Machinery Audits
• Health and Safety Management System

4
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Already established development of participatory
  competence in the management of Health and Safety
• Established structure of health and safety
  committees
• Ergonomic assessments 32 trained assessors
• Established and well supported emergency planning
  management
• An existing understanding of compliance issues in
  specific areas
• An existing competency in managing specific
  hazards and processes

5
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC
Bearing in mind, a university can have fairly
atypical activities
6
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• The ideal was to self-assess
• This presupposes a capability, a capacity, and a
  will to do this
• Issues relating to resourcing, standardisation,
  timeliness, interpretation, consistency of
  reporting
• Facilitated assessments - input from outside and
  from within each department
• Assist departments and service centres assess
  their own hazards, risks, and levels of
  compliance.

7
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Staff participation in the assessments
• Peer reviewing Ill show you mine, if you show
  me yours
• Machine assessments involved technicians using
  and maintaining the machines
• Health and Safety System assessments - drew wide
  variety of involvement.
• Staff were nominated by their directors or
  departmental managers
• Some had an interest in health and safety
  previously either as Health and Safety
  Representatives, or Departmental Safety Officers

8
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC
9
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC
We have had no hazards here for 26 years!

• Initial attitudes varied
• Some were aware that they should be doing more
  with respect to health and safety management
• Some departments had well laid out, logical, and
  appropriate health and safety plans
• Some appeared to be in a state of denial

10
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Some other views expressed
• This place is full of intelligent people - they
  just know what to do.
• This place is not a business and you are trying
  to measure it as if it was a business
• Oh no, the person to whom I report is not a
  manager. That is not their role. A manager is
  someone who manages. Oh no, they are not a
  manager

11
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• The assessment of the Health and Safety
  Management system took the form of a
  semi-structured interview
• Utilised a modified Workplace Safety Management
  Practises tool
• Covered 10 elements overall there were 69
  questions in each assessment
• Kept the assessment simple e.g. did not apply
  weighting to the answers
• Applied a simple scoring system to render a
  achievement score

12
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Compliance as a driver of health and safety
• Good
• Bad
• Ugly

13
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Sets a consistent and easily known standard
• Provides some protection in terms of the law
• Are generally borne from experience which is then
  effectively shared
• Relies on external verification
• Standards are minimums
• Creates a false sense of security
• Does not necessarily ensure best practise
• Ugly When you are not compliant, and something
  goes wrong Very Ugly!

14
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Employer commitment
• Planning review and evaluation
• Hazard identification, assessment and management
• Information, training and supervision
• Event management (Incident/near
  miss/injury/illness/discomfort and pain/serious
  harm)
• Employee participation in Health and Safety
  Management
• Emergency Planning and Readiness
• Protection of employees from on-site work
  undertaken by contractors and sub-contractors
• Workplace Observation
• Injury Compensation and Rehabilitation

15
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Results the scores
• Some were very good
• Some were bad
• And some ..

16
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Range of compliance scores from quite low to
  98
• Generally good levels of compliance ..
• Health Monitoring
• Event Reporting
• Emergency Management
• Employee Participation

17
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• And the not so good
• Planning, Review, and Evaluation
• Hazard Assessment and Control
• Information Training and Supervision
• Contractor Management

18
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• What was learnt?
• A clear idea of where the gaps are in the most
  (traditionally) hazardous areas
• As a consequence departments and service centres
  are able to work on some very specific action
  plans to mitigate the risks in these areas
  particularly with machinery and hazardous
  substances.
• Provided an impetus for Health and Safety to be
  planned, monitored, and evaluated at Department
  and Service Centre level
• An understanding of how such plans fit into the
  overall Health and Safety Plan for the University
  of Canterbury

19
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• What next?

20
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC
21
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Before everyone races off in separate directions
  .
• The systems and tools required to manage health
  and safety are already there and readily
  available - HR Toolkit
• There are already systems and people in place
  ensuring that there is compliance in a vast array
  of areas
• Across the University there is a network of
  Health and Safety Representatives who are active,
  committed, and effective.

22
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC
23
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• Compliance is the springboard for continuous
  improvement
• Management of Health and Safety at University
  requires both a unified and a diversified
  approach
• Spread the responsibility, unify the processes
• The assessments forced Departments and Service
  Centres to evaluate their relationship to UC
  Health and Safety Plan
• Broadening of understanding of what a hazard
  can be and the consequent responsibilities and
  controls required
• Leadership commitment throughout the University

24
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC

• University of Canterbury is a community
• Some, but not all activities resemble various
  business and industry activities found in the
  wider community
• Both business/industry related approaches and
  community type injury prevention and wellness
  programmes have their place.
• UC has a responsibility and a role in shaping the
  future
• Activities of staff and students take place in
  some extreme physical and intellectual
  environments
• Recognise that staff are experts in their field
• Apply business and community models of hazard
  management, injury prevention, health promotion,
  as they best fit.

25
Measuring Up Assessing Health and Safety at UC
Questions?