HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

BAC Education Group (BAC) has developed this health and safety policy which aims to provide information on its’ commitment to safeguard the health and safety and welfare of staff and students at BAC and persons coming into the campus of BAC.

SCOPE

This Policy aims to reveal to both staff and students and all those coming onto the campus of BAC that BAC takes its responsibilities towards securing safety and safeguarding health of those persons, is of paramount concern to BAC. It further stipulates the expectations placed upon employees, independent contractors and students to work together in establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace and academic educational institution.

This policy is just one of the many policies of BAC and should be read in conjunction with BAC’s other policies that frames BAC’s good practices and safety and well-being as a provider of education and a place of work for its employees.

DEFINITIONS

Undertaking: it is the responsibilities shouldered by persons who are assigned or employed to carry out specific tasks. It includes persons employed to carry out the tasks of cleaning the campus of BAC to simply carrying out maintenance works within the premises. The key to understanding undertaking is who has the duty of care.

Competence: means having the required skills, specialization, experience and sufficient training to execute the tasks for which the person is employed.

POLICY STATEMENT

BAC understands and values good health practices, safety and welfare of all staff and students as an important aspect of BAC management. The core principle of BAC as a centre for academic excellence and a place where continued growth in research and teaching is promoted, having a safe campus is paramount to enable students to acquire knowledge in a safe campus.

We strive to attain and maintain a College that embraces values on health, safety and welfare by:

Ensuring a team of good leaders and providing resources and access to guidance throughout the organisation to ensure health, safety and welfare standards are achieved.
Defining the responsibilities placed upon those within the department of health and safety under the purview of the Senior Management Committee in securing health and safety within the College;
Complying with the laws of the land;
Assessing apparent and core risks that is associated with the business activities of BAC and implementing measures to reduce the risk of injury and ill-health and damage to property or the environment;
Recognising all risks regarding health and safety when planning the business to provide for early identification of unacceptable risks and the implementation of satisfactory control measures;
Providing adequate information, instruction, training and supervision to our employees, students, partners and contractors by providing knowledge on health, safety and welfare matters and to ensure that each person carries out their responsibilities;
When risks are identified, measures should be immediately taken to prevent such risks and an on-going audit should be carried out periodically to ensure no further risks are prevalent.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS OF BAC

BAC is made up various departments who individually and collectively commit to providing a campus that staff and students safety and well-being are secured and valued. The following departments and personnel are committed to this end.

BAC Board of Governors

BAC’s Board of Governors is the body that is responsible for the health and safety of all those within the College. The Board of Governors as BAC’s governing body is responsible for:

Formulating and enforcing all BAC Policies and as such is responsible for its health and safety policy
Maintaining and ensuring the performance of health and safety measures
Proposing positive changes in situations where it discovered that health and safety performance is below standards.

The Board of Governors may delegate the responsibility of executing and enforcing health, safety and welfare matters to the Chief Executive Officer.

The Chief Executive Officer

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is answerable to the Board of Governors is responsible for the implementation and execution of all BAC policies including BAC’s health and safety policy. The CEO could then further delegate the responsibility of executing specific aspects of day-to day health and safety matters to the Senior Management Committee (hereafter referred to as the SMC) and its line management. The role of the Senior Management Committee is set below:

Senior Management Committee

BAC’s Senior Management Committee and management departments carry out the day to day operations of BAC. The Senior Management Committee under the leadership of the CEO could propose changes to policies and processes including health and safety policy and its execution. The SMC shall continually review the operation of the health and safety policy and make proposals for change where necessary. The SMC is responsible to provide regular reports on health and safety performance to the CEO.

Executive Committee Members

Members who make up the SMC are set out below:

1. Chief Operating Officer

The COO is accountable to the CEO for the health and safety management in each of the College’s academic faculties comprising of Deans of schools and the Heads of the Programmes. The COO would then make enquiries from his direct reports to ensure that health and safety tasks are being correctly carried out. If there emerge issues on health and safety performance, the COO should with consultation and cooperation of the Deans, provide feedback on health and safety issues to the CEO.

2. Deans of Schools

The Deans of Schools are responsible to ensure that the health and safety policy is implemented and carried out within their respective schools. They are accountable to the COO who is then accountable to the CEO. They provide useful feedback on improvements being closest to the faculty.

3. Line Management

A. Heads of Department and Faculty Heads

The responsibility of all staff both academic and administrative rests with the Heads of Department and Faculty Heads. The manner in which heads of departments and faculty heads carry out their responsibilities is set forth below:

They would have had to read and understand the College health and safety policy.
They would have to understand the processes involved that relate to the work of their department, directorate or service.
They would have to understand and appreciate the significant risks that is attached to the work carried out by their department, and ensure that significant risks have been assessed and appropriate measures are taken to eradicate the risks
A good practice would be to develop a departmental health, safety and welfare handbook articulating steps for securing the health, safety and welfare of staff and the health and safety of students and anyone else coming into the department, directorate or service’s activities, emphasising the responsibilities for health and safety within their department, directorate or service.
Human Resources Department should appoint sufficient competent people, such as a Department Health and Safety Warden, to assist with the management of health, safety and welfare matters.
Departmental and divisional staff and students should receive necessary information, training and guidance to carry out their work safely.
Health and safety inspection of the campus should be carried out throughout the year to ensure compliance to this policy and health and safety standards and the results should be recorded.
Finally should there exists any gaps in the operations of health and safety, appropriate action should be recommended.

B. Line Managers and Supervisors

Those in supervisory positions are responsible for the health and safety of staff and students they supervise including projects. All significant risks must be recognised and measures should be taken to ensure that health and safety principles and guidelines are implemented and observed. The greater the project or more hazardous, the greater the risks and greater the responsibility to ensure that all risks on health and safety are eradicated.

C. Staff

The responsibility rests with all staff of BAC to ensure that they carry out their activities in accordance with BAC’s health and safety policies and relevant statutory provisions. Delegation of this responsibility is strictly forbidden.
Students who are employed to carry out functions for College are considered to be members of BAC staff whilst carrying out that activity.

D. Students

Students are not exempt from complying with BAC’s policies and regulations and with health and safety instructions. There are health and safety equipment located on the campus premises. Students are strictly forbidden to misuse or damage such equipment.

E. Contractors

It is a legal requirement for the owners and occupiers of a premises to ensure that those coming onto the premises are safe. Hence, contractors coming onto BAC campus are provided a safe working environment. Contractors on the other hand, are required to respect and comply with BAC health and safety policy, standards, and processes.

F. Director of Accommodation and Hospitality Services and Director of Sports

These named directors have additional accountabilities to their respective line managers in that they have responsibility for health and safety matters associated with the buildings and infrastructure falling under their control. This includes the provision and maintenance provision of safe buildings, safe facilities and safe grounds, and encompasses any statutory testing or monitoring of building fabric, services and infrastructure.
They carry out the tasks associated with their building-related maintenance and repair duties. However, this delegation of tasks does not remove the accountability on each of these for the actual delivery of these duties.

G. Head of Human Resources Department

The Head of BAC’s Human Resource Department is responsible to appoint a “Competent Person” to ensure the implementation of this Policy and its execution on a day-to-day basis

H. Head of College Health, Safety and Environment Team.

The “Competent Person“ shall be the Head of BAC Health, Safety and Environment Team (BACHSE) and shall take the lead on occupational health, safety and welfare matters. The CEO shall delegate his authority to the head of BACHSE to stop activities that put people at imminent risk of harm.

The Head of BAC is responsible for:

Giving directions and guidance on all matters of occupational health, safety and welfare, including fire safety.
Drafting and executing a safety management system.
Ensuring that competency requirements are met.
Advising and communicating on the application of relevant health and safety legislation.
Creating a system of control in the use of radioactive substances.
Investigating incidents, dangerous occurrences or reports of occupational ill health in order to identify the potential for legal consequences and to identify action required to prevent recurrence.
Being the lead on BAC’s Occupational Health.
Supporting BAC’s Health and Safety Committee
Monitoring health and safety performance across the College and providing quarterly reports to the Health and Safety Committee and an annual report to Board of Governors which shall be deemed confidential and for use by the said Board of Governors.
Ensuring the professional development of staff and providing advice on health and safety within their Faculty/Directorate.
Liaising closely regulatory authorities on matters of health and safety.

BAC’s Health and Safety Committee

A forum or venue must be set up whereat staff may discuss health and safety issues, hence the establishment of BAC’s Health and Safety Committee. The committee shall:

Convene a forum for discussions on health and safety policy, standards and guidance and matters relating to the policy
Carry out checks on workplace standards and health and safety performance and to deliberate improvements to health and safety practice.
To highlight issues and promote areas of good or best practice.
Provide a committee for staff and students to raise concerns over workplace and campus hazards or unsafe practices.

SIGN-OFF AND BOARD APPROVAL

This Health & Safety Policy was reviewed, approved and adopted by the Board of Directors of BAC Education Group as well as all related Public Higher Education Institution (PHEI) and shall be open for review on 1 June 2027