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Earlier this year some of you completed an all-staff Safety Climate Survey as part of the University’s Review of Health & Safety.

You are now invited to get involved in the next phase of the Review – which has been delayed because of Covid 19 – by considering taking part in a focus group discussion in early January.  You don’t need to have participated in the survey to join a focus group – your input is just as important.

The focus groups are designed to help the Review team drill down into the areas highlighted by the survey, to understand more about what the results mean for staff in the course of your everyday work, and to gather your ideas and opinions about what changes you would like to see put in place.

About the focus groups

There will be four separate focus groups, each targeting a discrete group of staff in particular roles in the Medical Sciences Division. The discussions will take place on MS Teams and will last between 60 and 90 minutes. They will be facilitated by an expert from the consultancy arm of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which is partnering with the University to carry out the Review. The discussions will be recorded and transcribed by an independent transcription service. Importantly, confidentiality and anonymity are guaranteed for all participants.

The Review team is looking for between 6 and 8 participants for each focus group, in the following specific job roles and grades: 

Group A – Monday 11 January, 10am

  • Research-related: grade 6 – 10 eg Laboratory Manager, Research Nurse, Research Coordinator

and

  • Researchers: grade 6 – 8

To include people who normally (pre Covid restrictions) identify teaching space as their secondary work environment

Group B – Tuesday 12 January, 10am

Clinical researchers: grades E62, E64, E65, E66, E71, E82 

To include people who normally (pre Covid restrictions) identify teaching space as their secondary work environment

Group C – Wednesday 13 January, 10am

  • Professional or Managerial: grades 6 – 8 and
  • Professional or Managerial: grades 9 – 10/Senior Administrators: ALC6

Group D – Thursday 14 January, 10am

Support and technical roles: grades 1-5 to include people who normally (pre Covid restrictions) work mainly in office, laboratory and workshop environments and staff who normally work night shifts or antisocial hours.

Where to find out more

If you are Interested, please have a look at the information provided on the Health & Safety Review webpages, where you can find out more about:

  • the purpose of the Review
  • what is involved in taking part in the focus groups
  • the benefits of doing so
  • how the HSE is guaranteeing confidentiality for participants
  • how they will use the information you provide
  • where to find more information and who to contact for queries

How to sign up

There is an online form to complete, which will ask you for your contact details and information about your job role and grade, so that you can be matched to the right focus group discussion.  The form will also ask you to give your consent to taking part and to confirm that you have received all the information you need on important points like anonymity and confidentiality.

The Review project team will contact you with all the information you need to take part.  In the event that groups are oversubscribed, they will make a random selection but will invite anyone they cannot accommodate to take part in further focus groups being planned later in the Review process.

More information

If you have any queries or concerns about taking part in the focus groups, please don’t hesitate to contact Jen Webster at the HSE directly. For any general queries about the Health & Safety Review, please get in touch with the Project Manager, Karen Malone.