Health & Safety Awareness on Archaeological Excavations
The Department of Archaeology and Anthropology University of Bristol hosted a Health & Safety Awareness on Archaeological Excavations day this week, and 3 staff members from Wessex Archaeology attended, Ian Phillips – Company Secretary (and Health & Safety Manager), Gareth Chaffey – Project Manager and Alan Spooner – Facilities Supervisor.
The management of Health & Safety on archaeological excavations can involve similar challenges to those found on construction sites. Three experienced practitioners from different vocational backgrounds gave some interesting and informative talks on;
- Health & Safety in Archaeological Fieldwork in the HE Sector – Dr Stuart Prior, University of Bristol
- Health & Safety in Commercial Archaeology – Andrew Townsend, Bristol and Regions Archaeological Services
- Health & Safety in the Construction Industry – Howard Prosser, Industry H&S Specialist
There was a useful workshop in the afternoon where those attending broke down into groups and discussed H&S issues in Archaeological Fieldwork, this produced some interesting results and provided some invaluable tips and guidance to the delegates in attendance.
It is envisaged that this event will become a regular occurrence and will prove influential in raising the profile of Health & Safety within Archaeology.