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Health and safety policy

Also in Our policies

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is a world class research organisation based in Cambridge UK predominantly operating in the Antarctic and the Arctic. The polar regions present many health and safety risks not normally encountered in the everyday workplace. For this reason, the key to our continued safe operation is our highly experienced and skilled staff. BAS places the highest priority on the health, safety & wellbeing of our staff, and as a result, top management are dedicated to strong and active health and safety leadership.

BAS are committed to:

  • Maintaining a pragmatic, positive and open culture where health, safety & wellbeing is recognised by all staff to be a fundamental element in all we do.
  • Complying with, and where possible exceeding, all our legal obligations for health and safety, both in the UK and overseas.
  • Continuously improving our health and safety performance, and wellbeing of our staff.
  • Maintaining our certification to: o ISO 45001:2018,
    • the International Business Aviation Council’s IS-BAO safety management standard and
    • fulfilling the legal requirements of the International Maritime Organisation’s ISM code.

The legal entity of BAS is UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) of which the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is part of UKRI. BAS also operates to the UKRI Health and Safety Policy and codes.

To achieve our commitments BAS will:

  • Maintain a health and safety management system which sets health and safety objectives and targets. This includes assigning clear health and safety management responsibilities.
  • Identify the hazards and assess the risks created by our activities, and so far as is reasonably practicable eliminate, control or mitigate against those risks.
  • Appoint competent people to provide specialist health and safety advice to line managers and staff.
  • Provide our staff with the information and training necessary for them to carry out their jobs safely.
  • Consult with our staff, collaborators and union appointed safety representatives on health, safety, and wellbeing matters.
  • Manage the health and safety of all contractors and visitors (including visiting scientists and students) to our sites, stations, and ship.
  • Support our staff in looking after their mental wellbeing to help create a positive and safe workplace culture.
  • Support our staff in creating a safe and respectful work environment where staff feel safe to challenge respectfully and call out unwanted behaviours.
  • Adopt a twenty-four-hour, seven day a week, duty of care for our staff and others working on our stations, ship and in the field in Antarctica.
  • Review our health and safety performance at regular intervals to provide assurance and drive continuous improvement in performance.
  • Signed:

Prof Dame Jane Francis (Director) Date: 25th January 2024