About
Middlesex University is a leading UK university, supporting a diverse community of students, staff, and departments across its campus.
Health and safety at Middlesex University is managed through a devolved model, with departments responsible for controlling and managing their own areas. Rob McDonough, Head of Health, Safety and Wellbeing, and his team provide central support, advice, assessment, and oversight – helping departments manage risk effectively while reporting performance to senior management, the executive team, and the board of governors.
Challenge
Before implementing Notify, Middlesex University relied heavily on paper-based and Excel-based processes to manage health and safety activity.
For a small central safety team, this created a significant administrative burden. Time spent managing spreadsheets and manual reporting reduced the time available for higher-value work, such as improving risk assessments and engaging with teams across the university.
Following an audit by PwC, Middlesex University was advised to explore a software solution that could support better accident and incident reporting and action management.
Near miss reporting was a particular challenge. The process was not always easy or accessible, meaning valuable information could be missed.
Solution
Middlesex University needed a health and safety system that could be implemented quickly, support a small central team, and evolve with the needs of the organisation.
Notify stood out for its combination of personal support, value for money, and pace of development.
“It was a combination of the personal relationship, the price, and how rapidly Notify seemed to be developing and moving things forward. In the time I’ve been with Notify, nothing’s ever stood still for very long – in a very positive way!”
The university was able to get Notify up and running quickly, with support throughout the onboarding process. The Notify team provided advice and guidance on how to configure the system, drawing on experience from working with other organisations, and helping Middlesex University shape the platform around its own operating model.
Since implementation, Middlesex University has continued to develop and adapt its use of Notify. With support from their Notify Customer Success Manager, Jake, the team has made improvements to how the system is configured.
One key change was moving away from viewing accidents and incidents solely by location and instead structuring reporting by department. This helped ensure that the right people were involved in investigating and resolving issues, speeding up the process and improving accountability.
“Jake has really helped us understand what we’re looking for and how Notify can support us. We’ve made massive strides forward and have introduced some fundamental changes to the system. We’ve also made sure the right people are reviewing and investigating things, which speeds up the whole process.”
For Rob, the experience has felt less like using a supplier and more like working with a partner.
“At one point I thought Jake was a member of my team, I was meeting him so frequently! He’s got a real passion for problem solving and trying to help us find solutions.”
Results
Notify has helped Middlesex University improve reporting, action tracking, and visibility across key areas of health, safety, and wellbeing.
“Near miss reporting through Notify has been successful. People seem to be much happier to engage in that quickly on an app or a device than they do going back to the office, printing off a bit of paper, filling it in, and sending it off.”
The team can now drill into accident and incident data more effectively, helping them understand what is happening across the university and track the actions needed to prevent incidents from recurring.
“Notify has helped us break down and drill into our accident incident data a lot more, so we get a better picture of what’s occurring. And importantly, how we can track the actions that come out of that and make sure that things are dealt with to avoid accidents reoccurring.”
Middlesex University has also expanded its use of Notify beyond accident and incident management. The team now uses the system to support audits and inspections, including inspection templates for other departments and checks for university minibuses, for example.
Most recently, the university has also used Notify to create a process for staff to report workplace stress directly to the health, safety, and wellbeing team.
This means individuals don’t have to go through their line manager or an HR representative. Instead, they can raise an issue quickly and easily within Notify, allowing the Health, Safety, and Wellbeing team to begin an investigation.
This has enabled the university to move beyond traditional safety reporting and capture more people-focused wellbeing data, supporting a broader view of risk across the organisation.
“That’s a huge step forward. That’s not something we ever considered doing through this system. A massive part of safety is making sure that people are safe, well, and go home healthy. Notify is really helping us, so we are able to report to our executive team and our audit assurance and risk committee about the number of people reporting stress to us each year, what we’re doing about it, and where those hotspots might be within the university. Notify is great because it can capture all that information for us.”
For Rob, one of the biggest benefits of Notify is its ability to adapt as Middlesex University’s needs have developed. His recommendation to other organisations is clear – Notify can fit with where you are now, while continuing to adapt as your organisation grows, develops, and identifies new areas where support is needed.
Rob would recommend Notify to other organisations in the higher education sector and beyond.
“I absolutely recommend Notify, and I have done so in the past.”
Middlesex University uses Notify for: Incident Management, Action Tracking, Audits and Inspections, Risk Assessments, and Safety Intelligence.
For safety leaders looking to move away from manual processes, improve visibility, and work with a health and safety software partner that supports long-term improvement, Middlesex University’s experience shows how Notify can help teams take a more proactive, data-led approach to health, safety, and wellbeing.