Health and Safety Policy Statement

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is firmly committed to achieving and maintaining high standards of health and safety in respect of:

• employees of the Agency
• tenants of the Agency's property
• contractors working on the Agency's property or projects
• visitors to the Agency's property
• members of the community who may be affected by the Agency's activities

The Agency is fully aware of its obligations under health and safety legislation and is committed to meeting its demands in relation to :

• the Agency's own offices
• premises and sites owned or managed by the Agency
• employees of the Agency visiting or working in other locations
• projects in which the Agency has an interest

The NWDA supports the consultation of employees on matters of health and safety. It has a Health and Safety Committee which provides a forum for such consultation.

This policy will be distributed to all employees and will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Organisational Responsibilities
Responsibility for the effective implementation of the health and safety policy is as detailed below.

Chief Executive
The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for health and safety within the Agency, and in particular for ensuring that adequate resources are available to implement the policy.

The Chief Executive carries the principal functional responsibility for the implementation of the policy and in particular for:

• the allocation of resources to implement the policy
• delegating specific health and safety responsibilities to others within the Agency
• monitoring their effectiveness in carrying out those responsibilities
• ensuring that suitable arrangements are in place to implement the policy

Executive Directors
Executive Directors are expected to actively support the Chief Executive in the implementation of the policy.  Each Director has primary responsibility for the effective management of health and safety within their own directorate.  Their responsibilities specifically include:

• delegating administrative responsibility for health and safety within each office under their control to a clearly identified member of staff
• delegating administrative responsibility for health and safety within sites and property under the Agency's control to appropriate members of staff
• monitoring the effectiveness of these staff in carrying out their duties
• ensuring that suitable arrangements are in place to implement necessary precautions identified by the Agency's risk assessments
• identifying situations where the Agency's risk assessments or procedures require review or revision
• identifying health and safety related training needs and taking appropriate action to ensure these needs are met

Head of Human Resources
The Head of Human Resources carries the main functional responsibility for developing and maintaining administrative arrangements for the effective management of health and safety. 
In particular this includes:

• ensuring that adequate competent health and safety advice is available to the Agency
• ensuring  that every office of the Agency has at least one copy of the risk assessment manual
• making arrangements for the periodic review of the Agency's risk assessments and for review or revision where necessary
• ensuring consultation takes place with the Agency's employees on health and safety matters, particularly through the forum of the Health and Safety Committee
• arranging for monitoring of the Agency's health and safety standards through audits and inspections
• arranging for the effective reporting, investigation and notification of accidents and incidents involving the Agency's employees or within its offices, sites or property
• arranging for the review and, where necessary, revision of this policy at least every year
• making administrative arrangements to deal with identified health and safety training needs which cannot be met in-house

All Members Of Management
All members of management are expected to actively support the Board and Directors in the implementation of the policy.  They are expected to demonstrate their commitment to health and safety by setting a good example themselves and through their effective management of health and safety issues within their own areas of control.  Their responsibilities include:

• establishing local arrangements to implement necessary precautions identified by the Agency's risk assessments
• ensuring arrangements are in place to comply with the Agency's health and safety related procedures
• monitoring the effectiveness of the above arrangements
• monitoring health and safety standards within offices, sites or property within their control and taking corrective action where appropriate
• identifying health and safety related training needs and taking appropriate action to ensure these needs are met
• ensuring that new members of staff (including temporary staff) are provided with suitable health and safety induction training
• taking appropriate action to deal with risks reported to them

All Employees
All employees carry a legal obligation to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and for that of others who may be affected by their acts and omissions.  As well as including their colleagues, this duty also extends to the care of tenants, contractors, visitors and members of the public.

Their specific responsibilities include:

• behaving in a responsible manner
• following Agency procedures and safe working practices
• complying with standards set by the Agency or others (e.g. tenants or contractors) in respect of personal protective equipment
• identifying risks and other health and safety concerns and either rectifying them or reporting them to relevant staff (this includes those relating to the activities of tenants)
• reporting accidents and incidents as required by the Agency's procedures or instructions
• suggesting improvements to procedures or practices

Arrangements
The Agency has established a variety of arrangements for ensuring the effective implementation of its health and safety policy.  These include:

The Risk Assessment Manual
A copy of this should be available in every NWDA office.  It contains details of the precautions in place or available to deal with risks

• in the NWDA's own offices
• in NWDA activities outside its offices

The NWDA Site Safety Management Manual
This document is primarily concerned with the effective management of health and safety at sites and property within the NWDA's control.

Health And Safety Procedures
Several health and safety related procedures have been established, including procedures for:

• the reporting , investigation and notification of accidents and incidents
• health and safety inspections of NWDA offices
• providing health and safety inductions to new staff members

Health And Safety Committee
The NWDA has a Health and Safety Committee which has a written constitution and terms of reference.