General Risk Assessment Info for Events

A safety inspection and risk assessment of all departmental buildings is conducted annually by the Head of Administration and Finance and the Head of Physical Resources/Departmental Safety Officer. A report of the inspection is submitted to the University Safety Office and any issues identified rectified as appropriate. The assessment covers normal operations including the use of the teaching facilities etc for standard events such as special lectures, colloquia, open days, departmental parties/celebrations etc.

Large events will typically be held in the building on St Giles. Such events are generally very low risk being similar to regular activities such as large lectures, seminars and colloquia or departmental parties (e.g. christmas party). Any such event must comply with the university and departmental health and safety regulations, in particular when an event is arranged this must take into account

• Access to the building - depending on the timing of the event additional consideration for ingress/egress may be necessary. Under normal daily operation the main and rear entrances provide safe access for large groups to the teaching and common areas of the building. If an event begins or ends outside of the normal opening hours (or takes place at a weekend etc) special arrangements need to be put in place to ensure suitable safe access is available whilst also ensuring the continued security of the building.
• Room capacities - these must never be exceeded. Furthermore for events for non members of the department/university (e.g. open days) further precautions should be put in place, e.g. a caretaker should be on hand to oversee entry/exit to rooms occurs in an orderly fashion and that room capacities are not exceeded.
• Food preparation - this should be done by an external approved source (need to see their appropriate H & S certificate). Alternatively food that needs no significant preparation (e.g. shop bought packet foods) can be set out with appropriate care before the event checking it is in date etc.
• Evacuation procedures - for events such as open days where the attendees are not familiar with the department basic H & S info should be given at the beginning, e.g. making an announcement that in the event of the alarm going off people should leave the building in an orderly fashion following the green running-man symbols on the wall. In particular point out the fire exits at the front of the lecture theatres if these are being used, otherwise exit is generally out via the obvious visible exits.

Should an event be planned that will differ from normal operation further risk assessment may be necessary, e.g. if any non-basic experiment or demonstration were planned. If in doubt consult the Head of Administration and Finance and the Head of Physical Resources/Departmental Safety Officer.