NPG - Minutes of Health and Safety Committee Meetings

This material is held atNational Portrait Gallery Archive

Scope and Content

The Health and Safety Committee was established in Nov 2008 was superseded by the Safety and Well-being Champions Group in 2017.

The aim of the group, as recorded in the minutes of the first meeting, was to both consider Health and Safety recommendations and to make recommendations. General Health and Safety matters routinely discussed included accident and incident reporting, risk assessments, training and effective communication of Health and Safety information, fire risk, fire evacuation, management of contractors, use of equipment and out of hours working. Attendees reported back to team or departmental meetings in their own working areas as appropriate to disseminate information on key points of discussion.

The Committee met four times a year.

Meetings were chaired by the Gallery's Head of Resources. To ensure that all key areas of the Gallery are represented, attendees are drawn from a wide range of Gallery departments and work areas including Learning & Access, Exhibitions, Archive & Library, Framing & Conservation, Facilities, Visitor Services, Engineering and Events. An advisor from the Health and Safety team at the Natural History Museum, who provide expert advice to the Gallery, routinely attends each meeting.

Meetings were recorded with minutes only.

From 2017 the group was superceded by the Safety and Well-being Champions Group. The aim of the group is to bring together staff who have a genuine interest in developing a culture of safety and well-being across the Gallery in order to develop a practical approach to the management of risk across the Gallery. Ideally, the group members will have intrinsic safety elements within their current role including wider responsibilities for the safety of others or for the managing of third party contractors whilst on site and an interest in the well-being of colleagues in the Gallery.

The Group meets twice a year.

Meetings are chaired by the Gallery's Head of Operations. to ensure that all key areas of the Gallery are represented, the Group is comprised of representatives from Art Handling, Learning, Communication & Development, Human Resources, Design, Exhibitions, IT, Retail. There are two further smaller advisory groups set up to work directly with the Gallery's safety advisors from the V&A. These are the Fire Safety Group and the Compliance Group.

The series continues to consist of minutes, in addition to a Group action plan for 2017/18.

There is a gap in the minutes for 2016, when the Health and Safety Committee dissolved. Minutes for 2015 are not present.

Access Information

Available to view by appointment in the Heinz Archive and Library Public Study Room, to make an appointment contact Archive Reception . Although records are generally available for public consultation, some information in them, such as personal data or information supplied to the Gallery in confidence, may be restricted.

Other Finding Aids

The complete catalogue for this archive can be searched via the NPG Archive Catalogue .

Conditions Governing Use

Personal photography is permitted for research purposes only. Photocopying is not permitted.