HR Committee – 8 January 2026
Corporate Health and Safety Quarter 3 Report
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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 quarter 2 2025 – 2026. 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. |
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Recommendation(s) |
To note the work undertaken by the Health and Safety Groups and to support the proposal to combine the control of contractors working group and the asbestos working group. |
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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. |
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Ward(s) |
All |
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Portfolio Holder(s) |
Councillor Jill Cleary – Leader of the Council |
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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 |
Introduction and Background
1. This report provides an overview of the key activities undertaken by the Corporate Health and Safety team during Quarter 2 of the 2025–2026 reporting period. It also includes a summary of accident and incident data, along with details of all significant events that occurred within the quarter.
Significant Work Undertaken by H&S team
2. Health and Safety Team Case Manager System – Following the appointment of the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor in September, a new Health and Safety Case Manager system has been developed and introduced to better streamline the team’s competencies across the Council. All directorates will continue to have an appointed primary Health and Safety contact to maintain existing relationships and support the ongoing Health and Safety culture. However, requests for additional support — such as risk assessment reviews, inspections, audits, or accident investigations, will now be referred to the Corporate Health and Safety Manager. The Manager will assign a “Health and Safety Case” to the most appropriate team member. This new system will provide improved oversight of ongoing tasks and ensure that workload is distributed evenly across the team. statistical reporting will also be possible through the use of PowerBi.
3. Warning Marker Register PowerApp – The new Warning Marker Register PowerApp is now live. Additional guidance has been produced by the Corporate Health and Safety team. See appendix 1. The implementation of this app will allow operational staff who do not have access to a laptop to access the WMR via an NFDC mobile device.
4. CDM Project Support – Following the implementation of the Control of Contractor Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) the Health and Safety team have been working closely with colleagues from Estates, Valuations and Facilities on a number of on-going projects providing CDM advice and guidance. This includes:
· Hythe Prominade refurbishment works
· Ringwood Depot refurbishment works
· Eling tide mill refurbishment works
5. Fire Safety Arrangements ATC – A fire drill was conducted at Appletree Court on Friday, 10 October 2025. Approximately 100 employees and members of the public were present on site at the time. All individuals evacuated the building within 4 minutes, and the all-clear was issued by the Senior Incident Officer (SIO) after 7 minutes.
As per fire evacuation procedures, once the alarm is activated, the Site Officer on duty must carry out a seek-and-search to confirm whether the alarm relates to a real fire or a false activation. At the time of the drill, the Site Officer was outside in the car park, resulting in a 3-minute delay before reaching the activation point on the East Wing, second floor.
During the drill, car park lining works were in progress, making the designated fire assembly point inaccessible. No alternative assembly point was communicated or considered as part of the works, which represents a procedural gap.
Additionally, one member of staff failed to evacuate when the alarm sounded and continued their meeting. A fire warden intervened and instructed the individual to leave the building.
This was the first drill using the new radios, which improved communication between the SIO, fire wardens, Site Officers, and the CCTV control room. However, some issues were identified regarding clarity of radio communication. Further training is scheduled for all fire wardens and SIOs.
The Corporate Health and Safety team will continue to support Facilities in reviewing and improving fire evacuation procedures across all council offices and depots.
6. Corporate Stress and Wellbeing Risk Assessment – Employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work, in the same way they are required to safeguard employees’ overall health and safety. To support this duty, the Health and Safety Team has undertaken a Corporate Stress and Wellbeing Risk Assessment, based on the HSE’s Stress Management Standards. The assessment has identified several actions to further reduce the risks associated with workplace stress. One key recommendation is the development and implementation of a Corporate Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy. While the Council has a range of effective control measures in place to support employees experiencing work-related stress, there is currently no single, unified policy outlining the Council’s approach to managing and supporting staff affected by stress at work. Following the completion of the risk assessment, the Wellbeing Champions have been tasked with drafting a Corporate Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy. See appendix 2.
7. Housing Maintenance Workplace Inspection – As part of the scheduled annual Health and Safety inspections for Housing Maintenance (2025–2026), the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor conducted a task inspection with the Voids team at 4 Tedder Way. The team on-site were carrying out general void maintenance activities, including clearing debris and fitting new cupboard doors. Overall, the inspection was very positive. Both employees demonstrated a strong attitude toward health and safety and were observed performing their tasks safely. A number of observations and recommendations were made during the inspection, including:
· The property shows current/historic rodent presence throughout. There was no-pre-warning of this in advance of attendance.
· Multiple issues with the property not identified by surveyor, this leads to additional work and planning and impact on workloads.
· One employee was wearing his own boots from previous employment.
· In correct use of lone working app (setting 8-hour session not the corporate policy of 4 hours)
· Both employees did not know where to access risk assessments on their devices.
· Operative was using a dustpan and brush in dusty environment. Operative did have access to his M-class vacuum however was not using it.
8. Waste & Recycling Phase 2 Inspections – The Corporate health and safety team undertook 4 site inspections during the first week of the phase 2 waste rollout. Overall feedback was positive from crews however some more experienced drivers did express some concerns with the changes to the rounds. From a safety point of view, again the findings were overall very positive however a number of vehicles were noted with not deploying reversing assistance during reversing manoeuvres. Feedback from each inspection has been provided to Waste and Recycling Management.
Service Safety Panels
9. Housing Service Safety Panel – The Housing Safety Panel was undertaken on 22nd October 2025. The main points raised were:
· SDS Sheets (COSHH) – Over the past 18 months, the Housing Maintenance team has been actively requesting Safety Data Sheets (SDS) from Travis Perkins (TP) to enable comprehensive COSHH assessments via the Eco Online Chemical Manager system. While suppliers are legally required to provide SDS documentation for hazardous substances, TP has been unable to supply the most current versions due to outdated background software. The Service Manager – Housing Maintenance, Programmes and Servicing has engaged with TP regarding this ongoing issue. TP has agreed to manually review the product list and provide direct links to manufacturer safety information as an interim solution, pending a permanent software upgrade. In parallel, the Corporate Health and Safety team is cross-referencing existing Eco Online data with the list of products purchased over the past 12 months. This will help identify high-risk substances used by Housing Maintenance operatives. Once identified, the team will support the service in completing suitable and sufficient COSHH assessments.
· Issues relating to vehicle specs – Housing Maintenance has now confirmed the current specifications of vans within the fleet. However, no further progress has been made in resolving issues related to vehicles reaching their weight limits. To address this, the Service Manager – Housing Maintenance, Programmes and Servicing has scheduled a review of stock plans with Travis Perkins (TP). Moving forward, any new vehicles procured will be specified appropriately to meet both job and material transport requirements. 5 vehicles were provided by transport fitted with towbars and without reversing cameras, of these vehicles, 4 have had their towbars removed, 1 is still outstanding. This is being investigated further by Housing Maintenance.
10. Office Service Safety Panel – The Office Safety Panel was undertaken on 20th October 2025. No concerns were raised at the panel.
11. Operations Service Safety Panel – The Operational Safety Panel was undertaken on 11th October 2025. The main points raised were:
· Task Monitoring – concerns were raised regarding the transition of employee and task inspections to a Microsoft Forms-based system. Streetscene has already adopted this approach and received positive feedback from both supervisors and staff. The primary concerns relate to increased administrative workload and the introduction of an additional ICT system, which some staff may not yet be fully familiar with. It was agreed at the meeting that the Health & Safety team, together with the Business Support and Cemetery Services Manager, will provide additional support to Open Spaces to ensure an appropriate balance is achieved during implementation.
· Drug and Alcohol Testing Concerns– Following an incident in November, it was identified that no drug testing kits were available at any operational depot. Additionally, the current Corporate Drug & Alcohol Policy is outdated and requires review. New testing kits have now been purchased for each depot, and the Health & Safety team has implemented a Microsoft List log to track usage and replacement dates. The existing Corporate Drug & Alcohol Policy, which currently follows a “with cause” testing approach, will also be reviewed as a priority.
Working Groups
12. Control of Contractors Working Group – The Control of Contractors Working Group was undertaken on 7th November 2025. The following topics were discussed:
· Housing & Communities Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)– a draft SOP has now been published to all members of the working group. A deadline for feedback has been given for the 5th December 2025.
· Place, Operations & Sustainability Standard Operating Procedures – no further progress has been made. This action has been passed to the Corporate Health and Safety Manager and the Service Manager – Coastal. A deadline for a first draft has been agreed for the next working group (Jan 2026), the target date for publishing the final version is Feb 2026.
13. Asbestos Working Group – The Asbestos Working Group was undertaken on 14th November 2025. The following topics were discussed:
· Asbestos waste transportation– at the previous working group it was identified that large asbestos waste items were not being collected in an adequate manner. This process has now been reviewed, and it has been agreed that all asbestos removal tasks which will generate large scale asbestos waste (such as asbestos cement roof sheets) will not be undertaken in house and will be outsourced to an appropriate contractor.
· Asbestos SOPs – the asbestos SOPs are currently under review by the Corporate Asbestos team. Once approved additional training and communication will be provided to all employees who maybe effected by the changes made.
· Re-arranging of the working group– Members of the working group agreed to merge the Control of Contractors and Asbestos Working Groups into a single group, as many of the issues raised are relevant to both. The Health & Safety team will lead this initiative, with the first joint meeting scheduled for January 2026. All agendas, minutes, actions, and supporting documentation will be consolidated within a single Microsoft Teams channel.
14. Housing Operational Working Group – a meeting has not been held in this time period. The Service Manager – Housing Maintenance, Programmes and Servicing is looking to arrange a meeting in Q3.
Accident/Incident Quarter 2 Report 2025 - 2026
15. Appendix 3 contains the annual accident/incident report for quarter 2 2025 – 2026. Key headlines from the report include:
· 70 total incidents reported in Q2, this is a reduction of 10 compared to Q2 2024 – 2025.
· 5 RIDDOR reportable incidents were reported to the HSE in Q2, 3 of which were employee related. This is a significant increase compared to the previous quarter and Q2 2024 – 2025.
· A total of 132 days lost in Q2 due to injuries from accidents and incidents. 78 days were reported in Place, Operations & Sustainability. All days lost were reported by 2 employees, both took time off due to the same incident.
· 80% decrease in the number of manual handling incidents reported in Q2 compared to Q1.
· Significant increase in the number of asbestos related incident reported. The majority are contractor related.
· 37.25% of all employee accidents, incidents and near misses were reported by Waste and Recycling in Q2.
Significant Incidents Q2 2025 - 2026
16. #84 Member of the Public – RIDDOR – while works were being undertaken on an NFDC site, the contractor undertaking the works failed to suitably secure the exterior fencing, this resulted in the fencing falling over and impacted a member of the public as they walked past the site on a public footpath. The member of the public suffered head injuries and were taken to hospital to receive treatment. A civil claim has been received by the member of the public due to her injuries, this has been passed to the contractor. Although the contractor has control of the site during the construction phase of the project and is ultimately responsible for planning and maintaining health and safety during the construction phase. NFDC as the client has a duty to ensure that contractors are fulfilling their duties while working on our behalf. while the team managing the works had undertaken regular site inspection, which did identify a number of health and safety concerns, the processes of recording and reporting did require improvement. Following the incident the team have consulted with the health and safety team and implemented new ways of working, including new templates for site inspection. In addition, members of the team have also gone on additional CDM training provided by the Cibt.
17. #90 & #91 – Waste and Recycling Loaders – RIDDOR – while wheeling a commercial 1100L bin into the waste vehicle, the bin tipped over after a wheel went over a pothole. The employee handling the bin did not immediately let go of the bin which resulted in one employee pulling their left bicep, neck and back and the other injuring their back. the incident resulted in one employee being off for 57 days and the other for 21 days. The site was investigated by the Waste and Recycling Supervisor and the Waste Operations Manager. Management determined that the incident was easily avoidable, the pothole was visible and there was sufficient space to pass the pothole safely. Both employees were moved to an alternative round type to avoid reoccurrence, and additional engagement has been undertaken with staff to remind them to review their working environment during manual handling operations.
18. #82 – Housing Maintenance – RIDDOR – the injured person (IP) went to move some materials in their van via the side door; in doing so they noticed a sudden pain in their back. This incident resulted in 21 days lost. The employee has now left the organisation and did not return following the incident. This incident resulted due to poor housekeeping in the back of the IPs van, following the incident a manual handling toolbox talk has been held with all operatives.
19. #94 - Gas RIDDOR – NFDC Gas engineer attended a property on 27/06/2025 to carry out servicing. Following the service the gas inlet pressure test nipple was not tightened correctly leading to a release of gas. The release was reported by the resident upon smelling gas on the 13/07/2025. Due to this leak the incident was reported to the HSE under RIDDOR 2013 and Gas Safe. The installation was repaired via out of hours on the same day it was reported. A manager’s investigation was completed and identified 4 actions. All actions have been completed.
Vehicle Incidents
20. The Transport & Depot Manager completes the quarterly vehicle stats for the Council. Vehicle incident stats are presented at the Operational Safety Panel. See Image 1
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Corporate plan priorities
21. All recommendations fall under the corporate values (LEAF), specifically within the Learning and Ambition categories.
Options appraisal
22. All recommendations have been made to ensure the Council complies with its legal duties as set out in the relevant legislation.
Consultation undertaken
23. Not identified as part of this report.
Financial and resource implications
24. Not identified as part of this report.
Legal implications
25. None Identified
Risk assessment
26. 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
27. None identified.
Equalities implications
28. None identified.
Crime and disorder implications
29. None identified.
Data protection / Information governance / ICT implications
30. None identified.
EMT Comments
31. EMT supported the combining of the asbestos and control of contractors working group.
32. EMT requested further narrative towards the vehicle incidents included in this report. The Corporate Health and Safety team are to discuss further with the Transport and Deport Manager and the Insurance and Risk Officer.
33. EMT requested further evidence on the actions taken in relation to vehicle weight limits being exceeded.
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Appendices
Appendix 1 – WMR Power App Guide Appendix 2 - Corporate Stress and Wellbeing Risk Assessment Appendix 3 – Corporate Accident/Incident Report Quarter 2 2025-2026
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Background Papers:
None identified |