Health and Safety Co-ordinators

Health & Safety Co-ordinators (HSCs) are members of staff who are appointed by the Head of School /Function or Unit Director to act on their behalf to co-ordinate day-to-day health and safety arrangements. 

HSCs must have the authority and personal skills to be able to implement effective local H&S arrangements and to advise the Head of School/Function if performance/compliance does not reach the standards required.

Duties of HSCs will vary, dependent on the type of environment they work in. To reflect the different needs of these environments, HSC role descriptions and training requirements have been separated into those for higher and lower hazard areas.

Higher hazard areas

include: Schools and Functions with laboratories, workshops or equipment which may pose a significant hazard.

Lower hazard areas

Include: Schools and Functions where main hazards are office work and travel.  

Full details of the duties are on this link:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/health-and-safety/SN01 Duties of HS Coordinators i2.pdf

The HCS workshops planned for this academic year (2023/24) are:

Thursday 19th October, 10:30 - 12:30

Monday 4th December, 12:00 - 14:00

Wednesday 31st January, 11:00 - 13:00

Tuesday 12th March, 10:00 - 12:00

Thursday 25th April, 10:00 - 12:00

Wednesday 5th June, 11:00 - 13:00

Training requirements for HSCs:

Accident/incident Investigation:

This course is currently available as an E-Learning Module and can be accessed via UoRLearn: Incident Investigation E-Learning

Risk Assessment:

This course is currently available as an E-Learning Module and can be accessed via UoRLearn:Risk Assessment E-Learning

Managing Health & Safety for HSCs:

This course is currently available as an E-Learning module and can be accessed via UoRLearn: Managing Health & Safety for Health & Safety Coordinators

To continue as be HSCs, HSC are asked to undertake several activities to maintain their knowledge and experience. These are:

• In a 12-month rolling period to investigate three or more safety incidents, or to undertake substantial inspections of areas, or a combination of both.
• Attend 1 or more HSC workshops per semester for safety topic awareness and safety community networking
• To repeat the three e-learning courses listed above every 36-months as a means of refresher training

SA, November 2022