HR COMMITTEE – 5 SEPTEMBER 2024
Corporate Health and Safety Report (Q1 2024 - 2025)
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Purpose |
For Review |
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Classification |
Public |
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Executive Summary |
This report highlights the significant work undertaken by the Corporate Health and Safety team in Q1 2024 – 2025 and includes a number of scheduled policy reviews (lone working, the control of contractors and the control of asbestos containing material) The report also includes the key feedback from service safety panels and working groups, which are the Councils primary function for health and safety cooperation and consultation. The quarterly accident/incident report provides accident/incident statistics for quarter 1 2024 - 2025. |
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Recommendation(s) |
· To review and approve the draft Corporate Asbestos Policy
· To review and approve the draft Corporate Control of Contractors Policy
· To review and approve the draft Lone Working Policy
· Asked to note the impact on employees in relation to the recommended updates on the Corporate Drug & Alcohol Policy
· Asked to note the items raised at the Service Safety Panels and Working Groups
· Asked to note the findings identified within the Q1 2024 – 2025 accident/incident report.
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Reasons for recommendation(s) |
Supports the legal requirements of the council as outlined within the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999, The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. |
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Ward(s) |
All |
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Portfolio Holder(s) |
Councillor Jeremy Heron – Finance and Corporate |
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Strategic Director(s) |
Alan Bethune – Strategic Director Corporate Resources & Transformation – Section 151 Officer |
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Officer Contact |
James Loring Corporate Health and Safety Manager 02380 285 332 |
1. This report highlights the significant work undertaken within the Corporate Health and Safety team and throughout the Council from 1st April 20224 – 30th June 2024 (Q1).
Significant Health and Safety Work
2. Corporate Asbestos Policy - The 2022 policy has been reviewed and communicated to identified responsible persons and appointed persons (as identified within the policy). The policy has also been to all safety panels for comment. Updates to the policy include updating into the new corporate format, updates to the responsibility structure chart, clarity in roles and responsibilities and updates to training requirements. A draft policy is included under Appendix 1.
3. Corporate Control of Contractors Policy- The 2021 policy has been reviewed and communicated to all safety panels. The corporate policy document has been shortened to contain the specific policy arrangements, additional safe working guidance documents have also been produced by the Corporate Health and Safety team to assist responsible managers in fulfilling their duties as identified under the relevant legislation and policy. The policy and safe working guidance documents (see Appendix 2) also includes further detail around the role and use of the contractor incident notification protocol (CINP) and work authorisation forms. The Safe Working Guidance documents will be communicated at a later date for comment. Additional training requirements for all staff who arrange works with contractors to undertake IOSH Managing Safely training every 2 years and all staff who take on the duties of the Principal Designer under CDM 2015, must undertake a specific principal designer course, for example (CDM for Principal Designers - CITB). Once this policy has been agreed by EMT, ESLP and HR Committee, those who have been identified as requiring to complete a control of contractors standard operating procedure (SOP) will need to review their current SOPs.
4. Corporate Lone Working Policy - The Appello Lone Working System has now been implemented, the health and safety team and CCTV team are continuing to provide training to teams as they join onto the system. The health and safety team have been working with IT to undertake a security risk assessment to enable the use of the Appello lone working system on personal mobile devices.
5. As part of the implementation of the Appello Lone Working system the Corporate Lone Working Policy has been reviewed. See Appendix 3. This policy has been communicated to the lone working project group and safety panels.
6. It has been agreed that it is appropriate for a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) to be completed for all lone working practices throughout the Council to consider how these comply with the legislative requirements, any personal data risks and steps that have already been/should be put in place to mitigate those risks.
7. High Risk Lone Worker Test - The Health and Safety team currently is undertaking a test of 2 different panic alarm lone working systems, Orbis Protect and StaySafe. The testing of both systems is being undertaken between 08/07/2024 – 02/08/2024. Lone workers from across the Council have been used as part of this test. Feedback from all testers will be submitted to the lone working project group, a decision on next steps will then be made.
8. It has been identified that for there to be effective lone working practices, and to make the best use of the lone working systems, there is an element of employee ‘monitoring’.
9. Advice has been sought from Amanda Wilson (Information Governance & Complaints Manager) on the data protection implications of the policy and systems. It is recognised that there is a legitimate need to monitor workers to protect health and safety, however such monitoring should be carried out in a way that is lawful and fair to employees considering data protection requirements contained in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation. The Information Commissioner’s Office has also produced guidance ‘Data protection and monitoring workers’.
10. Corporate Health and Safety Policy Review- No further action has been taken. The Corporate Health and Safety Manager has been waiting to receive the findings from an audit undertaken by Southern Internal Audit Partnership in March 2024. A final version of the report has not been sent to the service at this time.
11. Noise Exposure Reports - A noise report has been completed by Antony Whittle (Corporate Health and Safety Officer), please see Appendix 4. The following actions and recommendations have been identified:
· Carry out further monitoring for both kerbside and bulk glass collection.
· Implement a system to ensure that all employees, particularly those moving from another role or taking additional responsibilities that mean they will be exposed to high noise levels, are identified and appropriate health surveillance arrangements are implemented.
· Consider the appropriate amount of health surveillance received by employees carrying out glass collection activities.
12. Elections - The Corporate Health and Safety team have been assisting the elections team assessing polling stations prior to the general election. The health and safety team have now built a file structure within SharePoint, this links to a master spreadsheet which includes all key hazards and risks at each of our polling stations, each folder also includes photos, site plans and inspection checklists. Antony Whittle (Corporate Health and Safety Officer) has also produced new inspection forms for both polling station inspectors and Presiding Officers, once a form has been completed the data will be accessible to the elections team and H&S team. The H&S team have also reviewed the generic risk assessment for working within a polling station. Ideally, all polling stations would have their own site-specific risk assessment, however due to the timing of this election, this has not been possible.
13. Additional actions have been identified, the health and safety team will continue to work with the elections team to work through the identified risks.
14. Drug & Alcohol Policy Review- The corporate health and safety team have been asked to review the current Corporate Drug and Alcohol Policy. The current policy sets out a with cause policy. This means that employees will be asked to undertake a drug or alcohol test if there is a legitimate cause for concern. It has been recommended that the Council also includes random drug and alcohol testing as part of their policy. Once reviewed, a draft policy will be shared with H&S reps and unions for comment.
15. First Aid at ATC - Following another recruitment drive from the H&S team, additional volunteers have come forward. Once trained, adequate cover will be provided at ATC during the working week. Relevant line managers must contact a member of the H&S team if first aid provision is required out of hours.
16. Training has been scheduled for 24th – 26th July, 20th – 22nd August, 23rd – 25th October and 3rd – 5th December.
Health and Safety Service Safety Panels
17. Operational Safety Panel - The Operational Safety Panel was undertaken on Tuesday 9th of July 2024. Action tables and panel action logs are updated within the new TEAMs channels.
18. Risk Assessment reviews – work to be undertaken by all services, Antony Whittle has based himself at CMD every Friday to work with the open spaces teams.
19. Accident/Incident Training – following a previous request from the working group, the H&S team will be provided additional accident/incident reporting and investigation training to all supervisors within the directorate. The H&S team have provided this training previously to a number of supervisors within the Council. The training materials need to be updated into the new corporate template; dates will then be booked in with relevant supervisors (after the school holidays).
20. Car Park Enforcement Lone Working Concerns- Scott D Smith (H&S Rep for Car parking enforcement) raised concerns with their current lone working solution Orbis Protect, Scott reported that employees within the Car Parking Enforcement team have reported not getting responses from Orbis when they activate their panic alarm button, this is usually in areas of poor signal. No incident reports have been submitted to the H&S team. The Health and Safety Team have agreed to visit MLD and discuss on-going concerns and solutions with the team.
21. Vehicle Incident Stats – vehicle incident stats were reported at the operational panel however these were not communicated prior. Below I have outlined the key stats:
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Team |
April – June 2024 |
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Waste |
15 |
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Housing Maintenance |
3 |
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Engineering Works |
0 |
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Streetscene |
0 |
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Grounds Maintenance |
2 |
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Transport |
0 |
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Parking Enforcement |
0 |
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Other |
0 |
22. Housing Safety Panel - The Housing Safety Panel was undertaken on Wednesday 10th of July 2024. Action tables and panel action logs are updated within the new TEAMs channels.
23. LMS Training – operational employees have reported issues with accessing and completing the mandatory e-learning training. This issue has now been identified as a mobile phone compliance issue; teams will continue to work with IT to resolve this issue. It has also been identified that employees have been assigned some courses which they do not require, for example employees who do not drive on Council business have been asked to complete driving on council business e-learning training. Jane Follett (Training Coordinator) will continue to work with HR.
24. Health and Safety Reps – the previous health and safety rep for Housing Maintenance has now left the organisation. Therefore, Housing Maintenance needs to elect a new health and safety rep within their service area. It was also agreed that an additional rep should be elected for the Homelessness & Housing Options service, due to the increased reporting of verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour incidents.
25. Office Safety Panel - The Office Safety Panel was undertaken on 18/07/2024.
26. Generic office-based risk assessments for ATC and the interview rooms at ATC has been signed off and added to the H&S SharePoint pages.
Working Groups and Steering Groups
27. CDM Working Group - CDM Working Group (sharepoint.com)
28. Asbestos Working Group - Asbestos Working Group (sharepoint.com)
29. Housing Operational Working Group - Housing Operational Working Group (sharepoint.com)
Accident/Incident Report Q1 2024 – 2025
30. Appendix 5 contains high-level accident/incident reporting statistics for Q1 2024 – 2025. The report was taken on Friday 21/06/2024.
31. A total of 80 reports were received at the time of the report, this is an increase of 13. There has been a large decrease in the number of near miss reports (reduction of 22). At the time of the report a total of 3 RIDDOR reportable incidents have been reported to the HSE, this is a small increase of 1, compared to Q1 2023 – 2024.
32. At the time of the report, a total of 71 days has been lost due to work-related injuries, this is a slight decrease from Q1 2023- 2024. 85% of days lost due to work-related injuries was reported within the Place, Operations & Sustainability directorate.
33. Abusive/threatening behaviour was the top reported cause for all employee reports this quarter. This reflects the continuing trend of increased verbal abuse reporting. The majority of reports (6) were reported by Housing. Slip, trip, and falls was the second most reported cause, the majority of which were reported by waste.
34. The top reported injury type was sprains and strains (11).
35. Waste and Recycling continue to be the highest reporting team within the Council (16).
36. Loading, manual handling and walking make up nearly 50% of activities being undertaken within incidents reported within the Place, Operations & Sustainability directorate.
37. A total number of 24 reports were made involving members of the public, this continues the trend seen last year with an increase in reporting quarter by quarter. The highest reporting cause of injuries were slip, trip, and fall incidents within our housing stock.
Health and Safety Training
38. Using the training reports provided by the corporate learning management system (LMS), the H&S team have put together Appendix 6 LMS H&S training report Q1 2024 – 2025. Unfortunately, due to the way the raw data is presented, it is extremely difficult to break down the information into services and teams. All health and safety courses included within the training report are required to be completed by the end of September 2024. HR are working with the Corporate Health and Safety team to improve the raw data reports, additional training will be provided to the Corporate Health and Safety Administrator in Q2.
39. The lowest take up has been from the more operational services, operational services and Housing maintenance employees have reported issues with accessing the LMS via mobile and tablet devices due to the devices being non-compliant. Callum Ranger (Housing Maintenance System Administrator) has been working with trade operatives to try and resolve this issue. HR have also been working with ICT to make IT systems more accessible to operational staff.
40. All recommendations fall under the Corporate values (LEAF), specifically within the Learning and Ambition categories. All reviewed policies identify additional learning requirements for staff and ways for the organisation to continue to improve their health and safety management systems and to continue to protect employee’s health, safety, and welfare.
Options appraisal
41. All recommendations have been made to ensure the Council complies with its legal duties as set out in the relevant legislation (see the reason for recommendations on the first page of this report). If the additional training requirements are rejected, the Council will need to procure additional competent external contractors to undertake works where a Principal Designer is required and when undertaking works with Asbestos Containing Materials. Providing additional training to managers and employees as identified within each of the policies will place the Council at increased risk of enforcement action and civil claims.
Consultation Undertaken
42. All reviewed policies have been through the quarterly Health and Safety Panel, EMT and ESLP. Additional consultation has been undertaken with employees who have been identified with day-to-day responsibilities, this includes Ritchie Thomson (Housing Major Project Service Manager), Peter Whetman (Corporate Asbestos Manager), Josie West (Strategic Procurement Manager) and Amanda Wilson (Information Governance & Complaints Manager)
Financial and resource implications
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Training |
Required |
Cost |
Approximate number of employees who require the training |
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P405 – Management of Asbestos in Buildings |
Senior Management who have duty holders responsibilities under CAR2012 |
£975 (exclusive of VAT) |
3 |
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P402 – Surveying and Sampling Strategies for Asbestos in Buildings |
Employees who undertake or have the potential to undertake asbestos bulk samples |
£875 (exclusive of VAT) |
2 (Corporate Asbestos Manager & Asbestos Management Officer) Training already completed |
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IOSH Managing Safely |
All staff who arrange for contractors to carry out works or projects |
Classroom learning: £595 +VAT E-learning: £199 +VAT |
Unable to provide a specific number of employees |
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Principal Designer and CDM Course |
All staff who take on the Principal Designer Role under CDM (this includes those who make core design decisions as part of a construction project) |
Approximately £150 per delegate Available in person and online. |
Unable to provide a specific number of employees |
Legal implications
Risk assessment
45. Without a suitable and sufficient policy for lone working, the control of contractors and the management of asbestos containing materials, the Council will not be complying with its legal duties as set out within the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012) and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015).
Environmental / Climate and nature implications
Equalities implications
47. Not applicable.
Crime and disorder implications
48. Not applicable.
Data protection / Information governance / ICT implications
49. It has been identified that there are data protection implications relating to the Council’s lone working procedures where these involve employee monitoring.
New Forest National Park / Cranborne Chase National Landscape implications
50. Not applicable.
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Appendices
Appendix 1 – Draft H&SP03 – Corporate Control of Asbestos Policy
Appendix 2 – Draft H&SP02 – Corporate Control of Contractors Policy
Appendix 3 – Draft H&SP14 – Corporate Lone Working Policy
Appendix 3A – Draft Appello Lone Worker System Emergency Procedure Flowchart
Appendix 3B – Draft Appello Lone Worker System User Guide
Appendix 3C – Draft Lone Worker Checklist
Appendix 4 – Noise Exposure Report
Appendix 5 – Corporate Accident Incident Report Q1 2024 – 2025
Appendix 6 – LMS H&S Training Report Q1 2024 - 2025 |
Background Papers:
ICO Guidance for Data Protection and monitoring workers
HSG 159 – Managing contractors: A Guide for employers
L153 – Managing Health and Safety in Construction ACOP
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