Health and Safety Policy
Our health and safety policy is split into two parts.
Part 1 – This covers Head Office Staff
Part 2 – This relates to students in the Host Family.
Part 1: Head Office
Aims of this health and safety policy:
- Manage health and safety risks in the workplace
- Prevent harm and causes of work related ill-health
- Provide clear instructions and information, and adequate training, to ensure employees are confident to do their work
- Provide personal protective equipment if necessary
- Consult with our employees on matters affecting their health and safety
- Provide and maintain safe equipment
- Maintain safe and healthy working conditions
- Implement emergency procedures, including evacuation in case of fire or other significant incident
- Review and revise this policy regularly
WHG will:
- complete relevant risk assessments and take appropriate action where needed.
- review risk assessments, documentation and training annually at minimum or when necessary, such as:
- a change in the working environment
- change in working habits
- deployment of new equipment
- consult staff and provide training/documentation where appropriate if any changes occur
- will provide personal protective equipment to the staff in any instance where needed.
- provide training if and where needed
- support staff who are working remotely or hybrid working
- make sure suitable arrangements are in place for employees who work remotely
- adhere to Bournemouth LifeCentre Ltd procedures and regulations for
- health and safety
- building regulations
- fire regulations
- evacuation procedures
- ensure instruction of the above procedures and regulations to staff
Employees should:
- co-operate with WHG on health and safety matters
- manage their own health and safety taking reasonable care
- report all health and safety concerns to WHG
- report all accidents to a partner
- Peggotty Moore [email protected]
- James Hume [email protected]
- Will Hume [email protected]
Part 2: Host Families
The Local Guardian (LG) will, on behalf of WHG, carry out an initial assessment before placing any students in the household.
During this visit they will:
- Discuss health and safety including:
- Accident book
- for any recordable events involving students
- Smoke alarms
- Carbon Monoxide Detectors
- Annual Landlord Gas Safety Check
- Electrical safety
- Fire Safety including evacuation routes
- discuss the possible evacuation routes from the property with students.
- If doors or windows are locked students must know where to find the key in the event of a fire
- Basic First Aid Kit
- Basic Food Hygiene
- Host families should have an awareness of basic food hygiene when preparing meals for students
- Accident book
- Conduct a health and safety inspection specifically including but limited to:
- Smoke alarms
- A minimum of one smoke alarm to be installed on every storey
- Carbon Monoxide Detectors
- A carbon monoxide alarm to be installed in any room containing appliances that burn:
- Gas fuel
- Liquid fuel
- Solid fuel
- A carbon monoxide alarm to be installed in any room containing appliances that burn:
- Basic First Aid Kit to include
- plasters
- sterile eye-pad
- triangular bandage
- safety pins
- non-medicated wound dressing
- disposable gloves
- leaflet giving guidance on first aid
- Accident Book
- Electrical Safety
- sockets and light fittings are secure and not overloaded
- any appliances used by the student are safe
- Open Fires
- fire guard should be in place when the fire is lit
- Smoke alarms
- Conduct a simple risk assessment of the property, in addition to the above health and safety, to include:
- Checking any prescription medication and drugs should be kept safely, especially when hosting young students
- Ensuring alcohol is appropriately stored
Following the initial visit the LG will:
- document details of their visit with WHG via the inspection page on the Online Resource Centre (ORC)
- record comprehensive notes of any visit or contact on the Host Family's record on ORC
- Contact WHG Family Compliance and discuss any concerns
- conduct at least one annual visit, in person, to each homestay held on their records.
- during this visit, support should be offered and suitable checks for safety and suitability should be undertaken to ensure any changes since the last visit are properly recorded and felt to be acceptable.
Advisory: Guardianship organisations and host families may wish to ask students to use UK plugs only and not to use overseas adaptors as these can be a source of fire. UK mobile phone and laptop adaptors are relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain in most cases.
Policy Updated
10thOctober 2022
Policy Review Date
1stOctober 2023
