CHANGE MANAGEMENT
The University is always changing. Changing the way it teaches, what and how it investigates, how it does things, and what it does. Change occurs at a local and institutional level and, like everything else, needs to be managed to ensure that risks to people and the environment are understood, managed and mitigated.
Why are Organisational and Operational Changes a Health and Safety Concern?
Management of change is a critically important aspect of a good general health and safety system. Change can introduce new dangers that were not present before, it can alter the workplace dynamic and can both positively and negatively influence behaviours. All potentially adversely impacting the suitability of existing risk mitigations.
Of course, managing change is a commonplace activity for much of the University, we often change processes, research methods and fieldwork activity, and we are familiar with re-evaluating existing risk and assessing new risk. However, sometimes change is more fundamental, particularly when related to major organisational changes and the introduction of entirely new and hazardous research activity. It is important during these times that health and safety ‘risk’ is identified and that the change and its impact is carefully evaluated and managed.
Some organisational changes, such as changing staffing levels, combining schools and departments, and changes to roles and responsibilities, are sometimes not as well analysed and controlled as process or ‘physical’ changes. Organisational and management changes can, if inadequately devised or implemented, have a detrimental effect on safety. Even subtle changes to organisational arrangements can have significant adverse impacts on the management of health and safety and risk exposure and we all have a role in ensuring this does not happen.
People and Activities
People are central to successful risk management, and this is especially the case during change when we can lose sight of where information and procedures are held and who did what. Crucially, it is important to remember that most staff who leave the University will have important and sometimes a rather unique understanding of how ‘things work’ and how risk is managed. When people leave there is a real risk that knowledge and awareness of particular risks leaves with them: exposing a potential for something to go wrong in future, as we ‘never realised the risk was there’ or that it is no longer being well managed. This is particularly acute in specialist areas, such as those staffed by autonomous researchers or engineers.
Change, of course, is not just about changing personnel, it’s often also about change of: activity, location, systems and equipment, outsourcing and general changes to how we do things. All change has a potential to influence risk exposure and it’s important we manage change and assure ourselves that we also manage potentially adverse impacts.
Personal Impacts
Advice on the personal impact on staff and support that’s available for both staff and managers is available from the Human Resources website.
What do we need to do?
As we prepare and consider change and during its implementation:
Useful Information