Purpose of the review
1.
This is the 6-monthly progress review of the Health and Safety
actions as outlined in the Health and Safety Strategic review
undertaken in 2019. This review follows on from the joint audit and
governance committee report on 7 July 2022.
Strategic Objectives
2.
Managing the business safely underpins all our strategic
objectives.
Background
3.
As part of the ongoing commitment to put in place a robust health
and safety management system key actions were outlined in the
report to this committee in January 2021, with the most recent
update presented in July 2022.
4.
The actions support and contribute to more efficient procedures and
services, provide for an assessment where necessary and an update
of health and safety compliance. The actions introduce mechanisms
for the escalation of health and safety performance outcomes and
enable the councils to demonstrate adherence to the requirements of
UK health and safety legislation.
Progress on actions
5.
The move of the Health and Safety team to People and Culture
remains positive and has enabled the councils to begin the drive to
deliver a more focused and positive health and safety culture. The
additional resource required to fully support the operational
delivery of the councils’ health and safety objectives, is
under evaluation by the Head of Corporate Services.
6.
The programme of work to review and develop a suite of core
policies that underpin the councils’ health and safety
management system continues. Through a process of collaborative
work groups facilitated by health and safety and good staff
involvement, the capture of best practice is being ensured. Key
policies have been approved and implemented by senior management
team (SMT).
7.
Further new policies under development include: the Equipment
Management Policy, to help ensure all equipment used by the
councils for work remains cost efficient, safe to use and compliant
with legislation; the Workplace Transport Policy, to incorporate
recent updates to legislation; the Selection, Management and
Control of Contractors Policy, a new policy to formalise
requirements for the safe management of workers under the direct
control of the councils, and; the Water Hygiene (Legionella)
Policy, to prevent people exposed to council controlled water
systems suffering illness and disease.
8.
The Safety Champions Forum, approved by SMT and the selection of
suitable Safety Champions by Heads of Service continues. Due to
resource constraints within the Health and Safety function, the
delivery of the support pack required for the Safety Champions to
be effective in their role has been delayed, the start date for the
forum remains pending.
9.
Training continues to be an integral part of the competency
framework for staff and is controlled and managed by the People
& Culture team. There are several courses available to staff
through the LEAH online training platform. Health and Safety
continue to work with colleagues in People & Culture to define
the core elements required to deliver good health and safety
competence, legal compliance, whilst remaining cost effective. This
work is ongoing, with priority focused on providing training that
is safety-critical and that meets specific legislation such as the
use of mobile elevated working platforms, commonly known as cherry
pickers or scissor lifts.
10.Measuring
health and safety performance is fundamental to ensuring risks are
identified and properly managed. All reports provided by Health and
Safety to SMT inform the actions required by the councils to
address gaps in health and safety management. We continue to
improve data collation and analysis within these reports.
11.Health and
Safety continue to work closely with the internal audit team to
ensure audits incorporate health and safety in the scope when
appropriate. These reports provide more focused detail on the
status of health and safety management at the councils.
12.As part of
the strategic reporting cycle, an annual health and safety review
is presented by the Health and Safety Business Partner to the Chief
Executive, Deputy Chief Executive (Transformation & Operations)
and the Head of Corporate Services. This was carried out in October
2022. In addition, regular health and safety reports are provided
to SMT on a quarterly basis by the Head of Corporate Services;
health and safety remains a standing item on all SMT meetings.
13.Communication of health and safety matters is fundamental for
good health and safety performance and the programme of work
continues to improve delivery through the councils’ intranet
system (Jarvis) and learning platform (LEAH). For all training
modules provided through LEAH we can monitor how many staff have
completed the modules and report this to service areas as
required.
14.Senior
leadership remain informed on health and safety matters through
regular reports, as detailed above, and can cascade relevant
information to Service Managers and staff throughout their area of
responsibility. ‘All staff’ emails continue to support
the delivery of information regarding health and safety
initiatives.
15.Health and
Safety continue to provide comment on all the councils’
projects and provide input into cross functional meetings. Health
and safety general activities continue to support across the whole
organisation, including with the development of policies and
procedures, advice and guidance for risk assessments, specific
projects, new activities, and incident investigations. Health and
Safety administer the lone worker system and other council tools,
organise and procure suitable health and safety training courses,
assist with site inspections, and internal audits as needed.
16.During
October 2022 the councils moved into Abbey House and the Health and
Safety team have supported colleagues with this transition
providing advice and guidance as required. As many staff are
working in a hybrid way, we continue to promote good health and
safety practice for staff working from home or other non-council
buildings. The recently agreed Hybrid and Remote Working policy
alerts staff to the many factors, including health and safety, that
they should consider if they are working in these ways.
17.Continuous
improvement of the health and safety management system is a key
deliverable for enhancing the councils’ performance. Health
and Safety continue to work to simplify and reduce the
documentation and work burden on staff, centralise policies and
procedures. However, as noted above, the appropriate level of
resource is required to support the health and safety function to
enable the councils to fully realise the value and cost benefits of
the actions being taken.
18.Following
the recent recruitment of several new Heads of Service and to
refresh and update the knowledge of leaders already in post, Health
and Safety will be running a bespoke ‘Leading Safely’
course. This course will enable senior managers to recognise the
value of their responsibilities, of strategic health and safety and
its integration into business management systems. A ‘Managing
Safely’ course will also be offered to service managers so
that all are able to recognise their responsibilities and provide
the support required to expedite delivery of the councils’
health and safety objectives.
Key performance
indicators
19.Current
key performance indicators relate to the number of incidents and
near miss incidents. Appendix 1 provides a summary of incidents and
near misses from 1 April to 31 December 2022.
Financial Implications
20.There are
financial implications if we fail to fulfil our duties under the
Health and Safety at Work Act (HASWA). These range from prosecution
and fines for lack of suitable safety management procedures and
implementation through to specific prosecution fines and claims
payments for not delivering safe plant, equipment, buildings,
locations, and processes.
Legal Implications
21. As
above there are legal implications if we fail to fulfil our duties
under HASWA.
Risks
22.Risk
identification is an integral part of our health and safety
management system and of this progress review.
Other Implications
23.Any major
incident or injury caused to staff, the public or our contractors
because of failure in our health and safety system could result in
significant reputational damage.
Background Papers
None
Appendix 1 - Health and Safety Key Performance
Indicators
The graphs below
provide a summary of incidents and near misses that have been
reported to Health and Safety at the councils, with a total of 46
incidents occurring since the start of this council year (1 April
2022).
Please note the
annual comparison graph uses data compiled by calendar year, all
other graphs use data compiled by council year (1 April 2022 to
present). Health and Safety continue to champion the reporting of
near misses and potentially dangerous situations (PDS) by staff.
These reports provide an opportunity for the councils to reduce
their liability and protect against more serious and costly
incidents occurring in the future. It should be noted that the rate
of reporting is significantly lower than theoretically expected for
the type and size of the organisation.
Notes:
RIDDOR = Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and
Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
RIDDOR LT – RIDDOR incidents reported
after 7 days
.
