Health and Safety

Health and Safety Policy

It is the policy of The Trust to provide, as far as is reasonably practicable, a safe and healthy working environment for its Trustees, Employees and, Volunteers and, to ensure that any work undertaken by the organisation does not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. The Trust also aims to provide a safe and healthy environment for any contractors, visitors, and other members of the public visiting its premises.

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Note - Visitors to the Garden will be made aware by the displaying of this policy that, whilst it is open from 10 a.m. to dusk daily throughout the year, the Trust’s Gardener (and only employee at the current time) is on site on a part-time basis. Therefore, there will be long periods when it is “unmanned”. Employees, volunteers and those using the Garden should take appropriate steps to protect their own health and safety and all potential risks or concerns should be reported to the gardener as soon as possible who will advise the Trust’s Health and Safety Advisor.

 

The aims and objectives of the policy are: 

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• To promote and maintain standards of safety, health and welfare that comply fully with the Health & Safety at Work Act, 1974, and other relevant legislation and codes of practice. 

• To protect Trustees, Volunteers, Employees, and members of the public and other visitors from foreseeable hazards. 

• To provide Trustees, Volunteers, and Employees with the necessary information, instruction, training and supervision needed to ensure that safe working practices are adhered to, and safety awareness is developed. 

• To ensure that Trustees, Volunteers, and Employees are aware of their health and safety responsibilities, to take care of themselves and others. 

• To encourage consultation and cooperation between Trustees, Volunteers, Employees on any aspect of health and safety. 

• To assess and mitigate risks created by activities and events, and where necessary consult with external bodies to maintain a safe working environment. 

 

Lone Worker Policy 

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This is an additional, specific policy covering lone working scenarios in the Garden. It is attached as Appendix A to this document 

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RESPONSIBILITIES 

The Board of Trustees 

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The Board of Trustees has ultimate responsibility for health and safety. They are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to ensure that adequate resources are made available, thereby maintaining a suitable, safe working environment. 

 

The Health & Safety Advisor  

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The Health & Safety Advisor will:

• Periodically review The Trust’s Health & Safety Policy - its currency and implementation by the organisation

• Bring to the attention of the Dr Neil’s Trustees, Volunteers and, Employees all relevant, new legislation, codes of practice and other matters affecting health and safety 

• Assist and advise Trustees, Volunteers, Employees on H&S policy and issues

• Advise on matters of accident prevention and policy 

• Periodically review Accident Forms 

• Identify training needs in relation to areas of health & safety

• Prepare risk assessments as required for activities associated with activities and events in the Thomson Tower and Garden Shelter 

 

Trustees, Employees, and Volunteers 

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All Trustees, Employees and Volunteers must:

• Observe all safety rules and always adhere to risk assessment requirements 

• Not interfere with anything provided to safeguard their health & safety 

• Wear appropriate safety and personal protective equipment if specified by Risk Assessments.   

• Report health and safety concerns, accidents, damage and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Advisor for follow-up. 

• Take reasonable care of themselves and others who may be affected by their actions. 

 

In addition, Employees must:

• Take reasonable steps to prevent breaches of policy

• Notify Health and Safety Advisor of any issues arising 

• Initiate any temporary measures that may be required to mitigate risk following any breaches

 

Arrangements for Maintaining a Healthy and Safe Environment  

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To maintain a safe environment there are several controls and procedures: 

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First Aid 

• The Garden Workshop has a first aid kit for treating purely minor injuries, such as cuts and bruises. Gloves and masks are included and should be worn at all times.

• The kit contents should be checked fortnightly by the Gardener who should record shortages and reordering of supplies where required.

• For more serious issues, and if the gardener and volunteers are on site call 999 for emergency services help.

• All Accidents, Incidents or Near Misses must be recorded in the Accident book, kept in the Garden Workshop. 

• Any outstanding issues or further reporting (e.g. RIDDOR) must be followed up by the Gardener with the Trust H&S Advisor. 

 

Training 

• All H&S training needs will be identified either by the Health & Safety Advisor or  in the case of garden volunteers by the Gardener.   

• Training will be provided on an annual basis, e.g. in areas of health and safety awareness, the use of protective equipment and safety devices, and manual handling. The risk assessments in place will also be reviewed during training.

 

Use of Electrical Equipment 

• If any Trustees or Volunteers intend to use electrical equipment (other than domestic appliances) they must receive comprehensive instruction before they are allowed to operate the equipment. 

• All items of electrical equipment should be unplugged when not in use. Examples include microwaves, kettles, portable heaters and phone/tablet chargers. Some electrical items are designed to be safe when left plugged in e.g. fridges, garden tool chargers and alarm systems 

• Equipment operators must also be able to use electrical equipment safely and, to adhere to health and safety procedures before being able to operate equipment unsupervised. 

• The Trustees are responsible for the required, regular testing of all portable electrical equipment in use (by PAT testing). 

 

Ladders and Step-ladders 

• Ladders must be used safely and according to risk assessment procedures. 

• All ladders shall be regularly checked under risk assessment procedures and any defects noted and reported immediately to the Dr Neil’s H&S Advisor. 

• Anyone intending to work at height e.g. for pruning, hedge trimming should ensure another person is aware that they are doing so before they start work. Where reasonably practicable, ladders must not be used by anyone working alone. 

 

Fire and Other Emergencies

• The Trust will make every effort to reduce both the likelihood of fire and severity of fire and other emergencies (e.g. bomb threat), and consequently requests that Trustees, Employees and Volunteers be vigilant and report anything that could be hazardous. 

• All Trustees and Volunteers should familiarise themselves with the fire drill procedure and emergency exits and evacuation.

• If Trustees, Employees and Volunteers are hosting any outside groups or events for, they must brief the groups and attendees on the Fire Exit routes and Fire Assembly Point (Church Car park ).

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Fire Evacuation Procedures ​

If you discover a fire:

• Prepare to evacuate the garden area and buildings 

• Where required Trustees, Employees and Volunteers should evacuate visitors and search garden areas (including the garden buildings) 

• There are fire extinguishers in the Thomson Tower and the Garden Workshop. These should only be used, if people feel knowledgeable about using them. 

• Do not return to the areas until you are told it is safe to do so by either a fire officer or  person in charge 

 

General Housekeeping of Garden Buildings and Outside Areas

• One of the major contributions towards the maintenance of poor health and safety standards is bad housekeeping and everyone working in the garden has responsibility for keeping areas tidy. All areas of the Garden Buildings should be kept tidy and free from clutter and trip hazards. Any potential health and safety issues should be reported initially to the Gardener, who will inform the Health and Safety Advisor.

 

Awareness and Monitoring of H&S Policy 

All Trustees, Employees and Volunteers must abide by the rules and regulations in force for the maintenance of a healthy and safe environment as detailed above. This includes having an awareness of the Health & Safety Policy and risk assessments and these documents will be held as printed copies in the Garden Buildings. If anyone is in doubt concerning the implementation of safe working procedures or if they consider arrangements to be unsafe they should report it to Gardener or H&S Advisor. 

 

Relevant Risk Assessments for Dr Neil’s Garden ​

• Volunteer risk assessment

• Garden users (including visitor groups)

• Exhibitions and Exhibitors 

• Lone Working 

• Garden work activities:

  • Slips and Trips

  • Manual Handling

  • Step ladders 

  • Planting

  • Reed cutting 

  • Pesticides and mower fuel 

 

Further information 

For a simple guide to Health and Safety please refer to the following website:

www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety

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Note – the above website is very business focused, but the messages are clear.

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For details of the RIDDOR 2013 procedures, please refer to the following website: 

www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reportable-incidents.htm

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Appendix A: Lone Worker Policy 

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Dr Neils’ Garden Trust (“the Trust”) takes the health and safety of its employees and volunteers seriously. The Trust has a legal duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of our employees and volunteers while at work or carrying out volunteer activity. The Trust realises that at any given time, staff or volunteers may be working or volunteering alone and will ensure that employees, volunteers and self-employed contractors who are required to work alone or unsupervised for significant periods are protected from risks to their health and safety.  

 

Aim and Scope

This policy is designed to alert employees and volunteers to the risks presented by lone working, to identify the responsibilities each person has in this situation and to describe procedures which will minimise such risks. It is designed to give employees and volunteers a framework for managing potentially risky situations.

 

Related Policies and Procedures

Lone Working Risk Assessment

 

Related Legislation

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

 

Context

The Trust has a legal duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and volunteers while at work or engaged in volunteer activity. At any given time, employees or volunteers may be alone, either in our premises or when operating on our behalf externally. The Trust is responsible for assessing the risks to lone workers and taking steps to avoid or control the risks where necessary. Employees and volunteers have responsibility to take reasonable care of themselves and others in lone working situations. Lone working is not inherently unsafe. Taking precautions can reduce the risks associated with working alone. This policy is designed for employees and volunteers and self-employed contractors who either frequently or occasionally work or volunteer alone. It also refers to both high and low risk activities. 

 

Definition

The Health and Safety Executive defines lone workers as those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision. For example:

• People working separately from others in a building or on a site 

• People who work outside ‘normal’ hours

• People who work away from their fixed base without colleagues

• People who work at home other than in low risk, office-type work

 

The definition covers staff and volunteers in situations with varying degrees and types of risk and obviously not all of these will apply to the activities in Dr Neil’s Garden. 

It is important to identify the hazards of the work and assess the risks involved before applying  appropriate measures.

 

Potential Hazards of Working Alone

People who work or volunteer alone will of course face the same risks in their work as others doing similar tasks. However, additionally they may encounter the following:

• Accidents or sudden illness may occur when there is no-one to call for help or first aid

• Fire

• Violence or the threat of violence

• Lack of safe way in or out of a building for example, danger of being accidentally locked in

• Attempting tasks which cannot safely be done by one person alone 

 

Measures to Reduce the Risk of Lone Working

To reduce the risk for people working alone the Trust will carry out a risk assessment of the following issues, as appropriate to the circumstances:

• The environment – location, security, access.

• The context – nature of the task, any special circumstances.

• History – any previous incidents in similar situations.

• Any other special circumstances.

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All available information should be taken into account and risk assessments should be updated as necessary. Where there is any reasonable doubt about the safety of a lone worker in a given situation, consideration should be given to sending a second worker or making other arrangements  to complete the task. In any situation where an employee or volunteer is operating alone and feels unsafe, they must remove themselves from that situation immediately and report the incident to their line manager or supervisor.

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In any situation where an employee or volunteer is operating alone and an incident occurs, this must be reported to their line manager and Health and Safety Advisor as soon as possible. An incident is any situation where the Health and Safety of the employee or volunteer is compromised and may include an accident, fire, violence or threat of violence (this is not exhaustive).

 

Supervision

Lone workers are by definition not under constant supervision. The Trust will ensure that employees and volunteers understand the risks associated with their work and the relevant safety precautions.

• Employees and/or volunteers will be given training that covers lone working where appropriate during induction / annual training sessions

• Employees and/or volunteers new to a role where they may be lone working should be accompanied initially

• Regular contact by phone may be appropriate and the Trust insists that that employees or volunteers carrying out duties alone have a mobile phone available at all times to enable them to contact the Gardener or the Gardener’s supervisor in the event of an emergency.

 

Accidents and Emergencies

Employees and volunteers operating alone should be made aware of the process for responding correctly to emergencies.  Employees or volunteers who are alone on site must adhere to Health and Safety and fire regulations.

 

Conclusion

Establishing safe working for lone workers is no different from organising the safety of other staff or volunteers. The risk assessment must take account of any extra risk factors.

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The Trust ensures that measures are in place to reduce risk and that expectations have been communicated to employees and volunteers operating alone and appropriate training provided.

 

All staff and volunteers, including lone workers, are responsible for following safe systems of  work and should take simple steps to reduce the risks associated with carrying out their normal duties.

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Document History

Version: 1.0

Author: Barbara Haward, CMIOSH (Retired) & Jill Bell (LLB)

Voluntary role: Dr Neil’s Garden Trust H&S Advisor 

Date approved: October 2023 

Signature / Role of Approver: The Trustees of the Trust, per Barbara Anderson (Chair)

Review date: October 2024

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Dr Neil’s Garden Trust – Scottish Charity Number SC028097

Registered in Scotland No 182958