Health & Safety policy

Introduction

There may be additional policies that apply to you if you used to work in the MRC or CRUK facilities that pre-dated the Crick or if you work in a particular team or area of the Crick, such as the BRF. 

  • Policy statement

    The Crick is committed to providing a healthy, safe and supportive environment for all staff, students and others affected by the Crick’s activities.

    The Crick is committed to the health, safety and welfare of all employees or other persons affected by its undertakings so that all return home safe and healthy every day.

  • Key obligations under this policy

    Health and safety is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone plays a crucial role in ensuring that the Crick is a safe place to work.  It is essential that everyone:

    • Complies with relevant health and safety policies and procedures. 
    • Cooperates with procedures and plans for continuous improvement when things don’t go to plan.
    • Is actively involved in reporting and learning from hazard observations, incidents and accidents and cooperating with incidents investigations.
    • Cooperates and contributes as necessary to the risk assessment process, and complies with the necessary control measures.
    • Completes all necessary health and safety training for their role.

  • Additional responsibilities for managers

    • Ensure that staff and visitors under their responsibility are provided with information, instruction, training, education and supervision, and that they are competent in undertaking their work activities safely and are aware of any related hazards, potential risks and required controls. 
    • Ensure activities for which they have management responsibility are suitably assessed to evaluate the risks and implement control measures to reduce the risks as far as reasonably practicable.
    • Follow up on any reports of adverse events to ensure that appropriate mitigating action is taken without delay, and ensure recommendations and learnings arising from audits, inspections and incident investigations are implemented.
    • Implement relevant health and safety policies and procedures and support monitoring of their effectiveness.
    • Ensure that all necessary permits and authorisations from the appropriate regulating authority are in place before work commences.

    • Version

    #5.0

    Why do we need this policy? 

    The purpose of this policy is to outline the commitment and measures being undertaken to maintain high standards of health and safety at the Francis Crick Institute in accordance with Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

    The Crick ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all employees or other persons who may be affected by our undertakings.

    Are there external standards that the Crick needs to meet? 
    This policy addresses the Crick’s responsibilities under the Health and Safety and Work Act 1974.

    Who does it apply to? 

    This policy applies to the whole Crick community which includes all Crick employees, students, visitors (including visiting scientists), contractors, contingent workers, agency staff, service providers, trustees and anyone else engaged to work at the Crick, whether by direct contract with the Institute or otherwise.  

    What role do you play and what are your responsibilities? 

    Health and safety is everyone’s responsibility and we all play a crucial role in ensuring that the Crick is a safe place to work.  

    Everyone at the Crick has a responsibility to carry out their activities in line with the Crick’s health and safety policy and other relevant health and safety policies and procedures. This enables the Crick to fulfil its health and safety obligations in accordance with legislative and institutional requirements.

    It is essential that everyone: 

    • Complies with health and safety policies and procedures. 
    • Cooperates with procedures and plans for continuous improvement.
    • Is actively involved in reporting and learning from near misses, hazard observations, incidents and accidents.
    • Cooperates and contributes as necessary to the risk assessment process, and complies with the necessary control measures.
    • Completes all necessary health and safety training relevant to their role.

    The Health and Safety (H&S) team is responsible for:

    • Liaising with the whole Crick community to enable provision of a safe working environment.
    • Providing and promoting safety systems, information, instruction and training at all levels necessary to ensure that staff are competent to undertake their work activities or supervise others to do so, and are aware of any related hazards and the measures to be taken to protect against them.
    • Providing advice on health and safety legislation and best practice and developing local health and safety policies and procedures. 
      Facilitating and advising on the development of a health and safety risk register and risk profile. 
    • Coordinating and communicating incident investigations, including local responses to serious/RIDDOR investigations, analysis of incidents to provide understanding of root causes and incident/accident trends, and recommending preventative actions arising. 
    • Acting as primary contact with external regulators to ensure compliance with e.g., Health and Safety Executive (HSE) requirements.
    • Delivering a risk-based local inspection and audit programme.
    • Communicating significant health and safety events and changes to legal requirements.

     
    The General Health and Safety Committee is responsible for:

    • Providing a forum for consulting with members of the Crick community, promoting an open and transparent relationship with regards to management of health and safety. 
       

    What are the responsibilities for managers at the Crick?

    Chief Executive Officer

    • Overall accountability for health and safety at the Crick.
    • May delegate operational responsibility for implementation of this policy to others within the organisation.


    Crick Board

    • Oversight of health and safety arrangements at the Crick, monitoring activity to ensure that statutory and other appropriate requirements are being met. 
    • Ensure that the Crick makes provision for resources to support the requirements of this policy.
       

    Executive Committee

    Ensure that best practice in health and safety is a matter of course for the Crick, senior leaders endorse and support a safe workplace, and the Crick complies with all relevant legal requirements. 
    Engage and oversee the implementation and effectiveness of all health and safety measures and ensure a positive health and safety culture.
    Review health and safety performance and improvements. 
     

    Line managers (e.g. Group Leaders, STP heads, Operation leaders)

    • Ensure that activities which they have management responsibility for are suitably assessed to evaluate the risks, and that appropriate control measures are implemented.
    • Ensure that staff and visitors under their responsibility are provided with information, instruction, training and supervision and that they are competent in undertaking their work activities safely and are aware of any related hazards, potential risks and required controls. 
    • Follow up on any adverse health and safety event reporting to ensure that appropriate mitigating action is taken without delay, and that recommendations and learnings arising from audits, inspections and incident investigations are implemented.
      Implement health and safety policies and procedures, and support monitoring of their effectiveness. 
    • Ensure that all necessary permits and authorisations from the appropriate regulating authority are in place before work commences.
    • Continuously improve and learn from instances when things don’t go to plan.
       

    How is the Crick helping to make the Institute a safe environment to work? 

    • Operational aspects of health and safety management follow the continuous improvement model: Plan, Do, Check, Learn, Act
    • Health and safety processes and procedures are in place and regularly reviewed to ensure the Crick complies with all relevant health and safety legislation and standards.
    • Regular and clear communication of health and safety policies, procedures and information is shared in the workplace. Risk assessments identify and assess potential hazards in the workplace and identify control measures to mitigate risks. Hazard assessments ensure safe working practices are in place to protect staff and the environment. 
    • A comprehensive training programme provides awareness, education and competency assessments to ensure staff have the necessary skills, knowledge and competencies to complete their roles safely. 
    • Emergency procedures are accessible, communicated to staff and practiced regularly (e.g., fire drills) to ensure preparedness. 
      Business continuity plans and any other resilience arrangements are in place. 
    • Equipment and facilities are regularly maintained and inspected. Necessary personal protective equipment and training are provided to ensure their proper use. 
    • An accessible and transparent reporting system is available for everyone to report incidents, near misses, hazard observations and accidents. Each reported incident is triaged, with serious incidents requiring thorough investigation to identify any further mitigation and prevent reoccurrence.
    • Various assurance activities are undertaken (e.g. audits and inspections) to monitor the Crick’s legislative compliance and to identify areas for improvement.

    What training do you need to complete? 

    There may be mandatory and specific training that you need to complete before undertaking tasks, depending on your role or the work you do. Please speak to your line manager and/or the health and safety team for further details.

    What is the role of the policy sponsor? 

    The sponsor is responsible for ensuring that this policy is reviewed regularly and updated to align with external legislative, regulatory and other developments and to reflect current best practice.

    Where can you find more information? 

    To learn more about the areas covered by this policy and to see details of some of the procedures that have been implemented at the Crick, the following materials are available: 
    •    Safety
    •    Health and safety document library
    •    Health and Safety Executive

    What related and local policies apply to you? 

    There are additional local policies and standards relating to various areas of health and safety that may apply to you. These can be accessed from the health and safety document library. Please speak to your manager for more information.

    What should you do if you have questions or concerns? 

    The Crick is committed to the highest standards of safety, transparency, probity and accountability. You can raise any questions or concerns with your manager or with the policy owner in the first instance. However, if you have any serious concerns relating to existing, previous or likely acts of malpractice at the Crick, the whistleblowing policy provides a clear, confidential mechanism for reporting your concerns and describes the steps the Crick will take to addressing and reporting back on them.