Health & Safety Induction

Maths departments are generally very safe places!

Below are listed some key information for induction and links to further material.

• Information about health and safety in the department is available on the departmental website (http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/notices/safety) and includes the statement of health and safety organisation.
• Lists of first aiders are clearly marked around the buildings. There is also an online list of who the first aiders are, their contact details, where the first aid kits and accident report books are kept.
• The fire service and university security services will not attend a fire alarm during weekday office hours. Should the alarm go off at such a time they must be explicitly called before they will attend.
• Should you see people failing to leave the building when the fire alarm is sounding please encourage them to leave (but if they refuse to move you should continue on your way). Note in general people are expect to take reponsibility for themselves and the department does not have nominated fire wardens checking every room has been evacuated and in so doing putting themselves at risk.
• Practice fire drills are generally held at least once per year. Please familiarise yourself with the location of emergency exits and always evacuate the building (by following the running man emergency exit symbols) whenever the alarm goes off. Evacuation instructions are located near each of the red fire call points that are located near exit points from each floor/building. The evacuation notices also clearly state the assembly point people should go to in the event of an evacuation (St Giles Building -> Blackhall Road, Keble College side; Dartington House -> Little Clarendon St opposite university offices; Gibson Building -> by the Green Templeton College lawn area)
• The fire alarms are generally tested each week, generally around 7:30am on Mondays in the St Giles Building, around 8:30am on Mondays in Dartington House and around 9:30am on Fridays in the Gibson Building.
• Do not rearrange office furniture without first seeking advice to ensure the change is acceptable to the department and also safe.
• In general do not move or switch off IT equipment yourself. Always contact computing support/technicians or caretaking staff. Note the department has a green IT system which automatically turns desktops off during certain periods if they are not in use. If you need to use a desktop that is off press the power button to turn it on but leave it on when you finish (the automated system will do the rest).
• Workstation layout and display screen assessments - see http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/notices/safety/dse for details. If having looked through the material you would like a formal DSE assessment this can be arranged. All workstations should already be laid out in accordance with the guidance. In most cases the monitor is height adjustable. For monitors that are not height adjustable boosters are available upon request.
• Although there is access to the buildings 24 hours a day extra care should be taken when in the building out of hours. If you feel particularly vulnerable when in the building out of hours you can arrange to check in with the university security services, i.e. call them and specify a time you will call them again, if they do not hear from you they would then come and investigate.
• There are panic alarms in certain vulnerable places in the department. Security services will phone to try to determine if this is a real emergency but should also be called if possible to confirm an emergency so they can attend more quickly.