HR Committee – 14 March 2025

Corporate Health and Safety Quarter 3 Report

Purpose

For Review

 

Classification

Public

Executive Summary

This Report highlights the significant work undertaken by the Corporate Health and Safety Team in quarter 3 2024 – 2025. This report also includes key feedback from the 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 statistics from the financial year 2024 – 2025 and any key significant incidents which occurred in quarter 3.

Recommendation(s)

·         To acknowledge the findings identified from service safety panels and working groups.

 

·         To acknowledge the findings from the Q3 2024 – 2025 accident/incident form.

Reasons for recommendation(s)

Support the legal requirement of the Council as outlined within the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated legislation and guidance.

Ward(s)

All

Portfolio Holder(s)

Councillor Jill Cleary – Leader of the Council

Strategic Director(s)

Alan Bethune – Strategic Director Corporate Resources & Transformation – Section 151 Officer

Officer Contact

James Loring

Corporate Health and Safety Manager

02380 285 332

James.loring@NFDC.gov.uk

 

Introduction and background

1.           This report highlights the significant work undertaken within the Corporate Health and Safety Team and throughout the Council from 1st October – 31st December 2024 (quarter 3).

COSHH Risk Assessor Training

2.           The Corporate Health and Safety team have provided COSHH risk assessor training to all Streetscene Supervisors in Q3. This training provides Supervisors with the knowledge to undertake COSHH risk assessment and COSHH risk assessments using our online COSHH management system Eco Online Chemical Manager. Following the face to face training all delegates were asked to undertake a COSHH assessment on the system. 2 delegates have now passed. Due to workload pressure within the service the other 2 delegates have not submitted their assessments. The Health and Safety team will continue to work with these supervisors to ensure their assessments are submitted within a reasonable timeframe.

 

3.           As identified within the COSHH Policy, this training will also be provided to supervisors within Housing Maintenance, Open Spaces, Workshops and Transport, Engineering Works and Facilities. Additional training sessions will be held in Q4 2024 – 2025.

 

Health and Safety Task Inspections

4.           Workplace inspections were undertaken with the Waste and Recycling team this quarter. Antony Whittle (Corporate Health and Safety Advisor) attended a rural waste round, the following findings were identified:

 

·         Overall, the working practises were very positive

 

·         The condition of the roads were very poor, and the waste vehicle being used was not suitable. No road risk assessment has been seen or reviewed by a member of the Health and Safety team.

 

·         Due to the type of road, the phone signal is very poor and could affect a response in an emergency situation when lone working.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.           Additional workplace inspections within the Waste and Recycling team will be undertaken within Q4, this includes:

 

·         Curb side glass round

·         Clinical waste collection

·         Commercial waste collection

 

6.           A Streetscene void workplace health and safety inspection is also scheduled to be undertaken in Q4.

Health and Safety Management Audits

7.           The team have been undertaking a management Health and Safety audit with the Electrical team in Housing Maintenance. The audit questions set is based off HSG65and reviews the services health and safety management systems. An overall score of 82.64% was achieved. The following actions have been identified:

 

·         Review use of service safety plans.

 

·         Active monitoring of health and safety performance to be reviewed.

 

·         Review all risk assessments and ensure that all hazards faced by employees are identified and that adequate control measures are in place.

 

·         Record minutes from team meetings, including where health and safety concerns are raised by employees.

 

·         Review the requirement for occupational health and health surveillance monitoring.

 

·         Review the risks of hand arm vibration for all tools used within the service.

 

·         Implement a formal health and safety induction process.

 

·         Implement processes for the hiring of plant ensuring adequate controls are in place.

 

8.         In summary, this highlights that satisfactory health and safety management processes are in place within the team. Electrical hazards are well managed and considered for all tasks. The actions identified are required for many teams within Housing Maintenance, therefore it is recommended that many of the actions identified are made a priority for the next financial year.

 

9.         Health and Safety Management audits will be undertaken with the            Gas team and Streetscene in Q4.

Fire Safety Review Corporate Buildings

10.        Following a fire alarm activation on 23/12/2024, the fire evacuation procedures for Appletree Court are currently under review by the Health and Safety team, CCTV and Facilities. The false alarm on the 23/12/2024 identified a number of issues with the current evacuation strategy, this includes:

 

·         Incorrect mapping and zoning of the fire alarm panel. The smoke alarm in the boiler room (east wing) was activated on 23/12/2024 due to a significant amount of dust being produced by the contractors working on site, however when the CCTV team reviewed the fire alarm panel it indicated “canteen”, this is clearly incorrect and likely has not been appropriately updated since pre-2017. In addition, the building plans, which should include the location of all fire safety equipment within the building were found to be incorrect following the ATC refurbishment works. The Councils fire risk assessment contractor has been engaged to update all maps and update the fire detection and zoning on the fire panel.

 

·         Lack of SIO, fire warden and management presence. Due to hybrid working and the time of the year there was minimal fire warden, senior incident officer (SIO) and management on site. In order to ensure the fire can be confirmed and all areas of the building can be swept a minimum of 6 fire wardens/SIOs will need to be on site at all times. There are currently 24 paid fire wardens at Appletree Court, it is has been recommended that a roster is made and managed by the Facilities team to ensure adequate cover is provided.

 

·         Poor communication of works being undertaken. At the time of the false activation, it was unclear who was responsible for the works being undertaken on site and no contact information had been communicated to the CCTV control room. This has been addressed by Sam Wills who has now shared the key contact list with the CCTV control room. This has also been identified and actioned as part of the Control of Contractors Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Corporate Resources and Transformation by the means of a Clients brief.

 

 

 

·         Inappropriate radios used by fire wardens and site officers. During the activation it was identified that the site officers and CCTV control room are on different radio frequencies to the fire wardens, and therefore resulted in poor communication. It has now been agreed that all members of an evacuation team should be on the same frequency. It was also identified that the Site Officers do not always keep their radio on them, which was previously agreed. This has also now been actioned.

11.    A fire evacuation drill was undertaken at Marsh Lane Depot (MLD) on 16/01/2025). The main concerns identified were a lack of ownership/fie wardens leading on their duties shown by fire wardens on site and concerns around the ability of workshop employees to hear the alarm when they are working. All actions are the responsibility of Facilities, the Health and Safety team will continue to support.

12.    The Health and Safety team have also been asked to undertake the fire evacuation procedure for Hardley Depot.

Orbis Protect Procurement and Implementation

13.    Contracts have now been signed with Orbis Protect and user information has been shared. Implementation of the Orbis Red-alert badges within Housing Options & Tenancy Accounts and Housing Resident Services will be undertaken within Q4 2024 – 2025.

Service Safety Panels

14.    Operational Service Safety Panel – all H&S panel documentation, including minutes is added to the Service Safety Panel SharePoint pages. Below I have outlined the main feedback raised at the Operational Service Safety panel.

·         Progress is continuing to be made on updating risk assessments across the directorate, the graph below outline the current progress. The Health and Safety team are now providing additional support to Engineering Works, Transport and Enforcement. Open Spaces Supervisors have struggled to undertake these risk assessment reviews due to the current workload and confidence in completing the template document. A project approach should be considered to ensure this critical work is completed within a realistic timeframe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         No progress has been made on moving the current health and safety monitoring process onto MS forms. The current process of monitoring all operatives over a 2-month period is on-going however no data has been sent to the health and safety team this quarter. It has been recommended that this action is pushed back until all risk assessments have been reviewed within the service. This will allow the service to identify its high-risk tasks, these tasks should be prioritised for health and safety performance monitoring. Chris Noble has agreed that we need to move this forward due to the lack of progress this financial year.

 

 

15.    Housing Service Safety Panel – all H&S panel documentation, including minutes is added to the Service Safety Panel SharePoint pages. The Housing Safety Panel was undertaken on 15th January 2025. Below I have outlined the main points raised at the Housing Safety Panel:

·         Progress is continuing to be made on reviewing all risk assessments within the directorate, the following graph outline the current progress. Housing Strategy and Development do have risk assessments in place however the Health and Safety team are reviewing the scope of the current risk assessments in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         Employees within Homelessness identified that their ID cards did not work when trying to use interview room 1 at ATC. This has previously been raised with IT and HR and was actioned. All staff were asked to check their access and report back to the Health and Safety team. The Health and Safety team will raise with IT and HR again to ensure appropriate access is provided to all employees.

 

·         The Housing Health and Safety Handbook has now been completed, See appendix 1.

16.    Office Service Safety Panel – all H&S panel documentation, including minutes is added to the Service Safety Panel SharePoint pages. The office Safety Panel was undertaken on 21st January 2025. Below I have outlined the main points raised at the panel:

·         Workplace inspections will be undertaken at all Council Offices during Q4. The Health and Safety team will be moving the current workplace inspection form onto MS forms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working Groups

17.    Control of Contractors Working Group - all working group documentation, including minutes is added to the Working Groups SharePoint pages. The Control of Contractors Working Group was held on 24th January 2025. Below I have outlined the main points raised at the working group:

·         The Health and Safety team provided an overview of the changes made to the Contractor Incident Notification Protocol (CINP) TEAM channel. 6 incidents have now been logged; 2 contractors has active control measures.

 

·         Progress is being made on all Control of Contractor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Additional consultation is required with relevant supervisors and managers in each directorate prior to sign off. The deadline for a final draft to be presented is April 2025.

18.    Asbestos Working Group - all working group documentation, including minutes is added to the Working Groups SharePoint pages. The Asbestos Working group was undertaken on 28th January 2025. Below I have outlined the main points raised at the working group:

·         Asbestos Working Group KPIs– Peter Whetman (Corporate Asbestos Manager) provided a statistical update on the KPI’s agreed at the start of the financial year. All reports are available on the working group SharePoint page.

 

·         Corporate Buildings Re–Inspections– it was noted that the scope of this KPI needs to be extended following the updates to the asset register for Estates and Valuations.

 

·         Asbestos Task Operations Inspections– Dan Bull (Corporate Asbestos Management Officer) has now undertaken 6 onsite inspections within Housing. The main issue identified across all inspection is that Housing Operatives have been using the incorrect Van when collecting asbestos waste. Additional communications will be provided to all trade operatives and supervisors.

19.    Housing Operational Working Group – the Housing Operational working group was undertaken on 22nd January 2025. The main discussion point was the Maintenance and Repair System (MARS).

 

 

Accident/Incident Report Q3 2024 – 2025

20.    See appendix 2 for the full accident/incident report.

21.    A total of 65 reports were made in quarter 3. Although this is a decrease from the previous quarter at Q3 2023 – 2024, there is an increase in the number of non-reportable accidents (injuries) and a reduction in the number of near misses reported. The reduction of near miss reports is due to a reduction of reports from Streetscene in relation to damage in public toilets.

22.    A total of 5 RIDDOR reports were made to the HSE this quarter, 2 of which were contractor related. This is a significant increase when compared to the previous quarter.

23.    At the time of this report a total of 185 days has been lost this quarter. 123 in Housing & Communities, 65 in Place, Operations & Sustainability. 91 days in Housing & Communities were due to one employee.

24.    A downward trend has been identified for all employee reports.

25.    Verbal abuse incidents continue to be the top reported cause for the financial year however we did see an increase in slip, trip and fall incidents in Q3. This is mainly due to the poor weather experienced over the winter period. Contact with sharp objects has had a significant decrease this financial year.

26.    The top reporting team this quarter was Housing Maintenance (19 reports). A downward trend of reported injuries has been identified within Waste and Recycling this financial year.

27.    A downward trend of member of the public reports has been identified this financial year. Although when compared to the previous financial year, there has been a significant increase in the number of reports. This is primarily due to the increased reporting from managers/supervisors in housing and customer services also reporting incidents to the health and safety team.

28.    A total of 5 incidents/accidents were reported by contractors, 2 of which were RIDDOR reportable.

 

 

 

 

 

Vehicle Incidents

29.    Simon Cooper (Transport and Depot Manager) and James Clarke (Insurance & Risk Officer) present a vehicle incident report at the Operational Service Safety Panel. The following graph is a summary of the findings presented.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q3 2024 - 2025 RIDDOR Reportable Incidents

30.    3770 – Housing Maintenance, Slip, Trip and Fall – employee was stepping out of the back of their van when their right leg gave way. They went to grab the door to try and hold themselves up but was too late and fell. Call made to their supervisors for support. This injury resulted in an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and a total of 91 days lost. Reported to the HSE as a 7 or more days lost incident. The new vehicles provided to Housing maintenance do not have handles on the inside of the rear doors to support employees when entering and exiting the vehicle. This is currently being reviewed by Transport.

31.    3767 – Waste & Recycling, contact with flying object – employee was working on a garden waste round, while loading a wheelie bin on the back of the lorry something from the bottom of the bin struck the employee’s eye. CCTV footage from the round was reviewed and no injury or event could be identified. This incident was reported to the HSE as a 7 or more-day lost incident. A full accident investigation of the incident was undertaken by a member of the Health and Safety team, 2 actions were identified this includes review task specific risk assessment and provide toolbox talks to all staff on the safe working procedures for bin lifts for both automatic and manual operation. This incident resulted in 34 days lost.

32.    3800 – Housing Maintenance, Slip, trip and Fall – while getting materials out of their van the employee fell landing on both feet. This action jolted the employee’s back resulting in time lost. As part of the investigation, it was identified that no handle was fitted on the inside of the door to support employees accessing and exiting the van. This incident has resulted in more than 7 days lost and therefore was reported to the HSE under RIDDOR 2013.

33.    3782 & 3783 – Housing Maintenance Contractor, Unsafe Gas Appliances– Disable Facilities Grant (DFG) works were being undertaken at 28 and 89 Beech Crescent. Following a call from the tenant at 89 Beech Crescent (leaking boiler) an NFDC Gas Engineer attended site. They discovered an unsafe boiler which had been fitted by the on-site contractor outside the scope of the manufacturer’s instructions. The Gas Supervisor (Jason Green) also attended 28 Beech Crescent as the contractor was also undertaking works on this property. He also discovered another unsafe boiler. Due to both boilers being classed as immediately dangerous, each appliance was reported to the HSE under RIDDOR 2013 as a dangerous gas appliance. A full accident investigation has been undertaken by the health and safety team. A total of 21 actions have been identified. All gas works have been suspended until a further audit of gas works undertaken.

Other Significant Incidents Q3 2024 – 2025

34.    3779 – Housing Maintenance, discovery of asbestos, 8 Manor Close – Following the review of an asbestos refurbishment & management survey by a member of the Corporate Asbestos team, it was identified that AIB debris was present in the loft space of 8 Manor Close. Decarbonisation refurbishment works were being undertaken at the time by a contractor. The property was secured and the loft space locked. The Councils asbestos removals framework contractor was instructed to remove all materials and debris. The contractor was recommended to report this incident to the HSE under RIDDOR 2013. The contractor has confirmed they have not completed a RIDDOR report form. A full accident investigation is currently on-going with the health and safety team. The on-going investigation has highlighted a number of health and safety management failings, this includes:

·         Poor historic record keeping of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) and management data on keystone.

 

·         Poor communication between client, contractor and between services in order to ensure health and safety risks are reduced to as low as reasonably practicable.

 

·         Poor processes to ensure asbestos data is recorded and accessible to all employees via keystone.

 

·         Lack of project specific health and safety documentation, including specific risks highlighted at the pre-construction phase.

35.    Waste & Recycling – Vehicle recovery, Dangerous Occurrence   – An agency driver veered off a road which resulted in the vehicle becoming stuck in a ditch, causing damage to fencing and hedgerows. A call was made to the Supervisor. The Supervisor attended site and could see that the road was unsuitable to drive down (extremely narrow and flooded at the time of the event). A call was made to our vehicle recovery contractor. The vehicle was inappropriately recovered by the contractor causing additional damage to nearby trees which angered residents. A resident was extremely abusive to the waste Supervisor onsite and over the phone. Once the vehicle was recovered from the ditch, it was clear there was a significant amount of damage to the vehicle. It has been reported the recovery company stated they did not have the equipment to fully recover the vehicle as if they lifted it additional damage would be caused. The Waste Supervisor made the decision to drive the vehicle back to the depot. Workshops reviewed the condition of the vehicle when it was returned, they confirmed it was not in a safe condition to drive. This incident is currently being investigated by the Health and Safety team. It identifies a number of key health and safety failings, this includes:

·         Suitable and sufficient vehicle recovery procedures.

 

·         Inappropriate vehicle recovery methods used at the scene.

 

·         Lack of management support and incident management procedures.

 

·         Poor decision making which putting themselves and others at risk.

 

·         Lack of suitable and sufficient route risk assessments.

Accident/Incident Investigation Actions Report

36.    As identified within H&S04 – Corporate Accident, Incident Reporting and Investigation Policy, the Health and Safety team record and follow up on all required actions identified within full accident investigations undertaken by the team. See appendix 3.

Health and Safety Training

37.    See appendix 4.  

Corporate plan priorities

38.    All recommendations fall under the Corporate values (LEAF),      specifically within the Learning and Ambition categories.

Options appraisal

39.    All recommendations have been made to ensure the Council       complies with its legal duties as set out in the relevant legislation.

Consultation undertaken

40.    Not identified as part of this report.

Financial and resource implications

41.    Not identified as part of this report.

Legal implications

42.   None Identified

Risk assessment

43.    A formal risk assessment is not required at this level. All    significant risks are identified as part of this report.

Environmental / Climate and nature implications

44.    None identified.

Equalities implications

45.    None identified.

Crime and disorder implications

46.    None identified.

Data protection / Information governance / ICT implications

47.    None identified.

EMT Comments

48.    It was agreed that James Carpenter and Richard Knott would discuss on-going challenges and risks within their directorate with James Loring (Corporate Health and Safety Manager). All parties are to agree an on-going workplan to ensure appropriate resources are assigned to high-risk priorities.

49.    Directors were asked to consider opportunities to discuss outstanding actions from health and safety investigations with their wider management team.

50.    EMT supported the approach to managing fire wardens at Appletree Court. Additional detail should be supplied from facilities once a detailed approach has been considered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendices

 

List appendices here:-

 

Appendix 1 – Housing Health and Safety Handbook

 

Appendix 2 – Accident/Incident Report Q3 2024 – 2025

 

Appendix 3 – Accident Investigation Action Stats Q3 2024 – 2025

 

Appendix 4 – health and Safety E-Learning Training Report

 

Background Papers:

 

None identified