Policy Statement

The Organisation is committed to pursuing excellence in everything it does and this includes the management of health and safety.

General Principles

1. We are committed to giving health and safety the highest priority in all of our activities.

2. We expect staff, trainees, visitors, contractors and other employers who work at Gigavine to share this commitment by complying with our policies and our procedures and to understand that they too have legal and moral obligations to themselves and to one another.

3. We are dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of all persons who may be affected by our activities by:

a. Providing, managing and maintaining a work environment, as well as production facilities, which are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and in which risks to health are controlled.

b. Providing adequate and appropriate facilities and arrangements for welfare at work.

c. Providing, managing and maintaining our workplaces, grounds and properties so that they are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and that risks to health are controlled.

d. Providing, managing and maintaining plant and equipment so that it is, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and that risks to health are controlled.

e. Ensuring that the use, handling, storage and transport of items and substances are carried out safely and that risks to health are controlled.

f. Implementing systems of work that are safe and where risks to health are controlled.

g. Providing the necessary organisation, expertise and resource, including communication and consultation, planning, monitoring, inspection and auditing procedures to ensure that there is effective management of health and safety throughout the Organisation.

h. Ensuring that our staff and any contractors we employ are competent and carry out risk assessments for all the work they control.

i. Providing the information, instruction, training and supervision at all levels necessary to ensure that our staff and trainees are aware of the hazards at their workplace, together with the appropriate measures to be taken to protect against these hazards.

j. Giving adequate information on relevant hazards to any persons whose health and safety might be affected by them.

k. Monitoring the safety performance of contractors who work for us.

l. Keeping up to date with best practice in relation to health and safety and complying with all relevant legislation and authoritative guidance.

m. Consulting with and involving our staff and trainees in matters relating to their own health and safety.

4. Where there are no existing Organisation policies or guidance, we expect our staff, trainees and contractors to meet the highest relevant standards and to comply with relevant legislation.  Where no standards exist, we will work with our staff to develop systems which comply with best practice and eliminate or minimise the risks so far as reasonably practicable.

5. It is our stated intention to educate our trainees in health and safety management by incorporating the basic principles into all appropriate courses. Wherever possible, information on the legislation and standards applicable to their course will also be included.  In areas of work or research which are highly regulated, staff and trainees will be expected to attend certain courses as a mandatory requirement.

6. We recognise that the Organisation is a large and diverse organisation. Therefore every Faculty, Division and Department, must have written arrangements describing how they intend to comply with this Policy Statement, giving details of what, by whom and how health and safety will be managed locally.

7. The Organisation has several campuses and operates on many other sites.  Many of its buildings are shared between more than one Faculty, Department/ Division and/ or, in some cases, external organisations.  In such circumstances we will establish clear lines of responsibility for the effective coordination of health and safety between users.

8. We undertake to continually review and develop our safety management systems, with the overarching aim of conducting our activities in a manner which does not affect the health and safety of any staff, trainees, contractors, visitors or members of the public, or adversely affect the environment. 

If you have requests concerning this information or queries regarding our practices contact admin@gigavine.com

Last updated on June 2009