Enhancing Campus Health & Safety at Edge Hill University

Client: Edge Hill University
Sector: Education 
Services: Health & Safety Auditing and Assurance
Location: North West England 

The Client 

Edge Hill University’s 160-acre main campus is located less than a mile from Ormskirk town centre in West Lancashire.?The University has invested over £350 million to develop a campus of outstanding study spaces, sports facilities, residential accommodation, collaborative hideaways and simulated workplaces. 

Recently constructed buildings realise the University’s vision of creating an inspiring, sustainable campus. These include the flagship £17 million Creative Edge building that opened in September 2013. The University’s £13.5 million Student Hub is at the heart of the campus. The vibrant Arts Centre houses the 200-seat Rose Theatre, two purpose-built studios and a media production centre. Edge Hill’s?new Biosciences and Geosciences facilities are among the best equipped in the country. Campus development continued in 2014 with the second phase of a new £30 million sports complex.  

The Challenge 

The University adopts a risk-focused approach to audit and assurance activities. Lower hazard department and service deliveries are audited by the University’s health and safety representatives according to a defined programme. For activities involving inherently higher hazards, the University engages specialist external support to undertake audits and ensure compliance. 

Following a competitive tender process in 2023, Edge Hill University awarded iON Consultants a three-year contract to serve as its specialist health and safety audit and assurance partner. 

The overall aims of the audit programme were to: 

• Determine and evidence the level of conformity with relevant health and safety statutory and university standards (policies, procedures and arrangements). 

• Identify areas for improvement and make suitable recommendations to achieve these improvements. 

• Recognise areas of good practice and identify further opportunities for improvement.  

We were required to: 

• Provide a robust assessment of risks and hazards, and work with the University to promote better compliance throughout all departments. 

• Promote good planning processes that ensured all departmental stakeholders felt part of the audit process and were informed about audit findings and recommendations. 

• Align the audit process with the University’s ISO 45001 management system. 

• Deliver the audit report summary in a format compatible with the University’s CAFM system for ease of data management. 

The Solution 

To ensure clear expectations and delivery of the audit process, we maintained a methodical approach to planning and engagement with all stakeholders, including the University's compliance team and department managers. We visited the site to meet with department managers and tailored the audit plan to address each department's specific needs. 

We worked collaboratively with each department to conduct the audit onsite. This involved reviewing documentation and inspecting the working and educational areas according to the agreed audit plan. 

We developed the audit reports for each department following the principles of ISO 45001. We included a clear action plan for improvements and designed the reports for seamless integration with the University's CAFM systems. This approach enabled a more robust assessment and recording of risk across the University, ultimately improving risk management. 

Following each audit, we provided additional support to individual department managers. This assistance ensured the implementation of suitable control measures and enabled us to offer specialist advice regarding specific scenarios. These strong working partnerships will bolster the audit's subsequent phases in the coming years. 

For many of the new buildings, we provided advice and assurance on roof access. This focused on safe access and egress for general maintenance activities carried out by both internal and external engineers. 

“Our partnership with iON Consultants has so far been very positive. For us, the way in which the assurance activity is carried out is important to ensure engagement with colleagues across the University. The team at iON took the time to understand the approach we wanted to take. They have delivered the first year's programme with good feedback from audited departments and identified useful findings that will help the University improve its management of health and safety.” 

Peter Roberts, Head of Risk Assurance and Business Support 

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