University puts safety first

Unions at the University of Leeds are celebrating a new agreement to promote and safeguard the health and safety of staff and students.

With managers declaring that health and safety is their highest priority, the university has agreed to spend £1.4 million every year on measures such as safety training, an awareness-raising campaign and an online risk assessment package.

Lecturers’ union UCU, which signed the partnership agreement this month alongside general union Unite and public services union UNISON, praised the university for accepting its past shortcomings and commiting resources to achieve change. About 10% of the university’s staff say they have reported an accident at work, and Leeds has received two improvement notices from the Health and Safety Executive in the past three years.

Roger Kline, UCU’s head of equality and employment rights, said the agreement “sets a standard on health and safety policy that is amongst the best, if not the best, in higher education”.

The agreement is available at http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/press_releases/current/assets/safety.doc