Building safety

The policy on animals on College property can be found on the Estates Department website.

The most serious and well known current health effect relating to asbestos is breathing asbestos fibre, with the associated risk of developing mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining. Mesothelioma is fatal and the likelihood of it developing is around 50 times greater if the individual is a smoker. College procedures are designed to prevent exposure so that no-one is in a situation where they breathe in asbestos fibres. The most obvious precaution is to check before any material is disturbed or worked on—preventing the risk at source.

What happens when exposure does occur?

Very rarely an accident may occur where fibres become airborne – for example when pipe insulation or asbestos based equipment gets damaged. What happens next?

• The person discovering the situation should minimise any further disturbance to the material.
• If possible, the material should be covered with polythene or some other barrier.
• The area should be secured to prevent others entering.
• Estates Helpdesk should be notified—they will, in turn, notify the Asbestos Manager.
• The Asbestos Manager will carry out an assessment to include:
  
  
  • Names of individuals potentially exposed and the estimated exposure times.
  • Type(s) of asbestos present.
  • Levels of airborne fibre.
• If the control limits laid down in the Control of Asbestos Regulations have been exceeded, the Safety Department will report the exposures in accordance with RIDDOR.
• The results of the assessment will be forwarded to the Occupational Health Department who will:
  
  
  • Make a further assessment of health risk.
  • Offer to discuss any concerns with staff exposed.
  • Ensure that the health record is retained for the statutory 40 years.
  • Contact the exposed person(s) GP in the event of the control limits being exceeded.

Full details of the College asbestos procedures may be found in the College Asbestos Management Plan (AMP).

For fire safety, see the Fire Office web pages (Estates Facilities website).

For the College Smoke-Free Policy and information on areas where smoking is prohibited, see the HR Website - Smoke-Free Policy (under A-Z list).

What individuals can do

There are a number of things that individuals can do to improve thermal comfort in their workplace:

• add or remove layers of clothing depending on how hot they are
• use a desk or pedestal fan to increase air movement
• use window blinds (if available) to cut down on the heating effects of the sun
• in warm situations, drink plenty of water (avoid caffeinated or carbonated drinks)
• if possible, work away from direct sunlight or sources of radiant heat
• take regular breaks to cool down in warm situations and heat up in cold situations

 What managers/employers can do

Although any of the actions outlined above may go some way to alleviating their thermal discomfort, there are also a number of things that managers/employers could do to help further:

• where possible ensuring windows that open, fans are provided to promote local cooling
• introducing work systems to limit exposure, such as flexible hours or early/late starts to help avoid the worst effects of working in high temperatures
• relaxing formal dress codes
• moving workstations away from hot plant or out of direct sunlight
• including assessments of thermal risk as part of workplace risk assessments

There is further information from College in the Guidance Note below, and also a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Code of Practice.

Guidance Note: Workplace Temperature (pdf)

HSE document on Workplace health, safety and welfare

Estates Operations link to building temperatures protocol