Safety in action

Hand-arm vibration (HAV) is vibration transmitted into the hands and arms from the use of hand-held power tools (such as grinders and strimmers), or through contact with materials that are vibrating, such as during cutting. Regular and frequent exposure can lead to a range of health conditions, most commonly vibration white finger (a permanent and painful numbness and tingling in the hands and arms).

In May 2021, a consultant occupational hygienist undertook a survey of the University Parks team’s exposure to, and management of, HAV. This identified that operation of most of the tools tested, over the reported usage periods, was a cause for concern. In particular, two old petrol strimmers exceeded the daily Exposure Limit Value in as little as 20 minutes.

These strimmers were taken out of action immediately, and a comprehensive programme of HAVs management was embarked upon. This included equipment replacement, moving to battery-powered equipment where possible, regular equipment maintenance, work activity management, risk assessment, staff training and health surveillance.

The Safety Office developed a system of counting cards to allow dynamic tracking of exposure throughout the day using a very simple 1-10 counting system. This allowed identification of when maximum exposure was reached and work with vibrating equipment needed to cease.

The Parks Team introduced a spreadsheet to monitor the total points recorded by the counting cards each day, while weekly supervisor meetings discussed any areas of a concern. Following an extensive period of monitoring, spanning a year, it was found that levels no longer reached or approached the maximum of 10 points, resulting in supervisors being able to undertake this check less frequently. Measurements will be repeated to monitor the ongoing efficacy of the measures.

The Department of Engineering Science has earned recognition at an international conference for their design of an ammonia manifold and delivery system. Li (Sam) Shen and Felix Leach presented their work at the second Symposium on Ammonia Energy conference in July.

Hosted by the University of Orleans in France, it is one of the largest conferences in ammonia research society. The three-day event, which showcases more than 100 presentations, welcomes hundreds of researchers from all across the world.

The system was installed in the Thom Building at the Department of Engineering Science, under the supervision of DSO Philip Paling. The presentation, entitled An Introduction to Ammonia Spray Lab Safety and Setup, detailed the method behind building a lab from scratch for ammonia spray tests and the subsequent safety precautions taken.

Safety features included:

• Emergency safety relief valve at pre-set pressures
• Bubbling waste ammonia into water and disposal of the resulting alkaline solutions
• Ammonia and in-line pressure sensors for leakage detection
• Solenoid valve power supply interlocks with leakage detection sensors

The audience in attendance appreciated the Department’s hard work on making everyone safer. For more details of the project, a modified version of the conference presentation is available below.

An introduction to ammonia spray lab safety and setup

In July 2023, a fire safety audit took place at the Examination Schools. One issue that arose was the need to review the room capacity for the East School, a large hall served by a single door.

In line with modern fire safety guidance, a room with a single doorway is considered to safely accommodate a maximum of 60 people only. Until the audit, this room had been used to accommodate far more – up to 160 for exams, which raised a concern with the Enforcing Authority Inspecting Fire Officer, of Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service.

©OUImages/John Cairns Photography

To review these figures, a fire risk assessment was carried out. This provided a great opportunity to put the University’s updated fire risk assessment template to the ultimate test – assessing the risk to people from a fire occurring in a building that doesn’t meet modern-day standards.

After attending the supporting Further Guidance for Fire Risk Assessors course, the building’s Senior Facilities Manager was able to apply the new process. The risk assessment was not only deemed suitable and sufficient by the fire officer, but also one of the best risk assessments he had read.

The assessment’s findings are able to support an increase in the number of people that can be safely accommodated in the East School. The maximum figures vary depending on the activity taking place within, with 160 being maintained for exam conditions, 120 for teaching and lectures, 100 for conferences, and 60 for private events such as weddings where the consumption of alcohol is factored in.

This example should be used to demonstrate the importance of completing a well thought-out risk assessment. It has relieved the pressure on those responsible for allocating the event space and finding a suitable space for large cohorts.

Use the University's Fire Risk Assessment templates

A compressed gas cylinder safe practice guide has been produced by Christina Foldbjerg Holdway, Chemical Safety Advisor at the Department of Materials. Having initially joined the University as a lab technician, Christina was given the task of changing the gas cylinders in an outdoor gas cage which supplied inert gas, mainly nitrogen, to equipment located in the lab.

To develop her practical understanding and confidence, Christina found YouTube videos a really helpful source of information.

As a result she’s produced this guide with the hope it will provide the practical knowledge, tools and awareness needed in order to handle gas cylinders safely. It provides guidance on planning, storage, step-by-step procedures for connecting, leak checking and disconnecting, maintenance and emergency procedures.

She added that research supervisors and lab managers may use the guide in conjunction with practical training, adding 'I, for sure, would have found it useful back then'.

View the compressed gas cylinder safe practice guide

For EveryDaySafe culture change to become a reality, it’s vital that departments play their part in spreading the message among their staff. Truly embodying the action-oriented approach, the Ashmolean Museum has gone above and beyond in ensuring its staff are receiving adequate, but not overwhelming, advice and guidance.

The EDS team spoke to Mike Finneran (below), Ashmolean Head of Safety and Security, to learn how they’ve made their communications so impactful. 'I decided to do it after Brian Jenkins, Head of the Safety Office, came along to one of our GLAM DSO meetings to talk about EveryDaySafe,' Mike began.

'That sparked my interest because I want to get as much information to my colleagues here as possible. Having looked at the wealth of information available on the Safety Office website I was pondering how to get the message out there in a way that would resonate with people. I decided to do a week-long campaign, using the series of five posters promoting the five EveryDaySafe values, to send out a message each day with some information about EveryDaySafe.'

This strategy proved successful, as Mike received positive feedback after day one. 'I always try and make all the information I send out quite light-hearted because health and safety is a really heavy subject otherwise – if I start quoting legislation at people they’ll turn off,' he explained.

'So I then did day two to five with a different message each day, with a different outlook on health and safety and again I was getting some really good feedback and by the time I got to day five, people were talking about it.'

However, Mike is keen for the message to be longer-term than the initial five-day campaign, and has plans to ensure the message is consistently reinforced. He continued: 'I’ll be displaying the EveryDaySafe values animation on our screen in the St Giles’ staff reception. I’ve also updated our Ashmolean intranet, and created an EveryDaySafe folder so there’s one point of contact for people to go to for information. In there, I’ve added all the EDS messages that I’ve sent as PDFs.

'And I’m looking at producing coasters with key messages like ‘be a good citizen, don’t walk by’ that we can give to all our staff at the museum.'

Mike hopes the EDS message will continue to support and improve upon the safety-conscious culture set by the museum. 'Staff accidents have gone down massively over the past few years, and I’m hoping the EDS message will help with that even more.'

Perhaps most encouragingly, Mike’s efforts have been well received by those in senior management positions. Dr Xa Sturgis, Director of the Ashmolean, has positively supported the EveryDaySafe mission, subsequently inviting Mike to promote the culture change at an all-staff meeting.

As part of his week-long campaign, Mike sought to involve other members of the leadership team too. The message from Claire Lane, Commercial Director, was: 'It [health and safety] couldn’t be more critical. It’s essential that we’re protecting ourselves, each other and our visitors and we all play a vital role. Being aware and vigilant is everyone’s responsibility – please don’t walk by – report it, sort it.'

As Mike summed up:

'The EveryDaySafe message to me is about coming to work and keeping yourself and everyone else as safe as possible and going home safely to the people that matter. Not just ignoring issues, thinking that someone else will come and deal with that, but actually having the courage and the confidence to deal with it yourself or to report it to someone who can deal with it. We are not perfect, we make mistakes, but we are committed to improvement and the EveryDaySafe message is a great reminder to help us achieve this aim.'

Elaine Anstee is Head of Imaging Services. She realised that her team’s risk assessment did not mention alternative fire escape routes from their Imaging Studio space and the need to practise them. Additionally, under normal arrangements, the team did not have this route on their ID cards – although if there was a real fire, the necessary doors would be automatically released. So she arranged for an additional door to be added to access permissions for all her staff.

They all practised using the new second route in small groups and all other staff who access the team’s studio have been informed and encouraged to do the same. Practices will now take place twice a year for all staff and the new route is highlighted on maps displayed on both exit doors.

Elaine’s team also highlighted desired improvements to training and drinking water, both of which have been acted upon:

Training

As they work in a unique space, the team felt that annual manual handling and safety awareness training should be delivered on site in the Imaging Studio.

In the summer of 2023, the local health and safety officer came to the studio and delivered the manual handling and safety awareness training in the studio. The session proved an overwhelming success, in large part due to the course being targeted at the real life work of the studio. The intention is to ask for this to be repeated every two years or if there is a significant change in staffing.

Drinking water

During hot weather – which we all experienced during summer 2022 – the team had to make long trips to other parts of the building to refill their water bottles (due to material handling regulations, only one bottle each is permitted and must be kept at the studio entrance). To avoid these disruptive and tiring expeditions, the team asked for a new water unit to be installed for use by them and other nearby teams.

The water system has since been implemented and is sited outside the image studio (see below). Additionally, a new jigsaw table was added for anyone needing a couple of minutes away from their desk. This was put in as an extension of the thought process behind the water station and for general staff wellbeing.

When an office manager (anonymous) in IT Services put safety on the agenda for his team meeting, it prompted some useful discussions and actions:

• Looking around their workspace they agreed to keep an eye out for and remove trip hazards
• Checking that the heater had been PAT tested (even if they are not expecting to use it)
• Realising they weren’t sure how high they were allowed to reach for books on shelves using their step stool.

The Safety Office team explains:

'Thousands of injuries a year are caused by falls when working at height – many of them associated with falls from less than 2 metres. The current Working at Height Regulations have no lower limit so even using a step stool counts. The legislation encourages a risk-based approach to work at any height where injury may result. This means selecting (and maintaining) the right item of equipment to reduce the risk of falling and taking into account the activities involved. It may be appropriate to use a low level stepladder, instead of a step stool, to prevent over-reaching and to ensure there is a third point of contact (e.g. hand-hold) from the stepladder/platform. You can find out more in our policy document, on the HSE website, or by discussing this with your departmental safety officer for advice.'

On Wednesday 11 October, two safety officers from Hong Kong visited the University. Dr May Chan and Andy Fong of the Health, Safety & Environment Office at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology were shown various areas of the University.

The tour included visits to the Robotics Laboratory in Engineering Science and the Laing O’Rourke building site of the new Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.

Accompanied to the various departments by Les Wright, Director of Occupational Health and Safety, along with other members of the Occupational Health & Safety Office, they were then joined by Professor Martin Maiden, Safety Executive Group co-chair, for lunch at Hertford College.

Commenting on the commonalities between the two establishments, Les Wright said: "There are many similarities between both the challenges, and the responses, at each of our respective universities. Our visitors were also due to visit the annual conference of the University Safety and Health Association (USHA), and through this and their visit to Cambridge earlier in the week they will have established a network of contacts who would be happy to continue building supporting relationships across the global health and safety community."