H&S Round Up October 2026

Reporting period 21st May 2026 to 20th September 2026

SHWO team updates

• The WHSC approved the formation of a formal institution-wide Joint Consultative Sub-Committee for Safety, Health, and Wellbeing (JSCS-SHW) at the University of York. This committee will be a formal sub-committee of the WHSC and sit within the University’s Safety, Health, and Wellbeing Governance Framework. In the coming weeks, the SHWO team will be organising the set-up of the sub-committee.
• SHWO is undertaking a consultation on the Fire Safety Policy in the next 3-4 weeks with University stakeholders. The Fire Safety Policy will be reviewed with feedback compiled, after which SHWO will finalise, seek Council and VC approval, publish and communicate the policy.
• A new Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Policy has been drafted. This will be consulted on through the newly approved Joint Consultative Sub-Committee for Safety, Health, and Wellbeing (JSCS-SHW).
• SHWO is working on guidance for lone and out-of-hours working. This work has been incorporated into the “Strategic Security and Access Control” University-wide project regarding the control of buildings/spaces. The existing guidance for lone working should continue to be used under further communication.
• SHWO has changed the title of the mandatory training course “Introduction to Fire Safety” to “Fire Safety Induction” following an action from the WHSC.

H&S Governance

Due to the recent organisational changes, including splitting of the professional services executive board, a light-touch review of the H&S Governance framework is in progress. It is anticipated that the updated webpages will be published and communicated in November 2026.

H&S Management System (SoterWeb)

The new iReport incident-reporting module was launched on 21st September 2026. User guides and training are available on the SHWO training webpages. In the next 12-18 months, 11 further modules in the online H&S management system (SoterWeb) will be rolled out as part of the phased implementation plan, working in collaboration with the software developer and stakeholders as relevant.

Fire

Positive engagement with the new fire drill booking process was reported with fire drill arrangements in Colleges clarified in line with the new PEEPs process. 

A proposal was approved by the WHSC that included costs to procure 62 additional evacuation chairs, including maintenance and training for 5 years. The new chairs will be installed across the campus in locations according to risk, and designed to reduce the time required to deploy necessary equipment to evacuate individuals from buildings, helping to ensure life safety and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Once the new chairs are installed, the university will have a total of 80 evacuation chairs spread across the two campuses. 

External Review of H&S at the University

The University initiated a full independent expert review of the workplace safety, health, and wellbeing management system at the University of York. The review found that while the University of York has improved its health and safety governance structures, there are still significant operational weaknesses, including outdated policies, unclear roles, inconsistent training, and poor communication. Key recommendations include urgently addressing fire safety procedures in student accommodation, updating critical policies, implementing a clear action-tracking system, strengthening training and consultation, and adopting the (HE sector recognised and utilised) Health and Safety Management Profile (HASMAP) framework for long-term improvement.

An initial action plan has been formulated to address some key findings. This will be followed by a fuller report setting out a work plan addressing specific themes over a realistic timeframe.

Proposal for increasing mandatory H&S training for all staff participation rates

The WHSC has approved the proposal of a mandatory H&S training package which will include existing mandatory training courses, plus All Staff Induction; Risk Assessment; Manual Handling; iReport Training; and a First Aid refresher for qualified First Aiders.

Over the next 12-18 months, SHWO will be working on these courses and rolling them out in a phased plan. Consultation on these will be conducted via the (newly approved) Joint Consultative Sub-Committee for Safety, Health, and Wellbeing (JSCS-SHW).

Health and Wellbeing

A Staff Health and Wellbeing Strategy was presented to the WHSC as approved by the UEB in June 2026.The focus of this approved strategy is to develop and build further on the University of York’s established staff health and wellbeing resources around four foundational pillars, with an associated high-level objective. Together with the outcome of a university-wide stressor questionnaire, this will then inform an action plan.

For further information please see the Workplace Health and Safety Committee pages