Agenda item

This report highlights the Council’s activities and performance in health and safety at work for the financial year 2022/2023. 

Paul Neary (Head of Corporate Health and Safety) presented the report on the Council’s activities and performance in health and safety at work for the financial year 2022/2023.  He said that no enforcement action had been taken against the Council by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) during 2022/2023 and there were no cases requiring further investigation.

In reply to Councillor Paul Alexander’s question relating to the number of reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrence regulations (RIDDORs), Paul Neary advised that all of the nine RIDDORs reported to the HSE in 2022/23 were incidents of a minor nature.  

Councillor Adrian Pascu-Tulbure asked if the lower number of safety incident reporting figures in the previous two years on Table 2 were due to lockdown.  Paul Neary responded that following more employees and teams returning to work in the office, there were more incidents in 2022/23 and more anonymously reported cases after training than the two previous years.    

On Councillor Pascu-Tulbure’s further questions about training provided to the front-facing staff to prevent violence and aggression towards them, Paul Neary said that a conflict management training module had been produced, with dates of delivery to be set soon.  As regards the action analysis of the Property and FM Statutory Compliance Report in Appendix B, Paul Neary said that the report, reflecting the overall compliance of the Council’s 69 buildings, was a snapshot of circumstance on the 1^st of every month, and these could go up and down on a daily basis.

Councillor Ashok Patel referred to holding his Councillor surgery alone at St Matthew Church Hall and expressed concerns about Councillor safety. Paul Neary noted that Corporate Health and Safety had carried out site risk assessments for all surgery locations, looking at security and suitability of the premises, including lighting, CCTV provision, and accessibility. Solo Assist Monitors had been provided to Councillors for use during surgeries.  Councillor Alexandra Sanderson advised that, if necessary, arrangement could be made for councillors to conduct surgeries together to make sure no Councillor would be on their own.

The Chair noted that working from home was becoming more prevalent and enquired whether risk assessments and staff training were provided under the Hello Hybrid Future programme to avoid staff injuries. He also asked if homeworkers had requested adequate equipment. In response, Paul Neary referred to the display screen equipment training and self-assessment compliance completed by all staff working in the home environment.  Staff could request equipment required for working from home through an online questionnaire.

Sharon Lea (Chief Executive) said that some of the Council’s workforce were able to do hybrid working involving some home working while others due to their job nature could not perform duties from home and needed to be present in Borough.  Staff were provided with a laptop for use at home or in the office, they received training, and engaged in development opportunities via teams or in person.  She remarked that the health and safety of staff was a top priority for the Strategic Leadership Team, particularly for in person interactions under challenging circumstances involving confrontational or even violent expressions where enforcement activities were taking place. Hence, apart from staff training, the Council also sent messages to residents advising them to treat Council staff with respect.

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the health and safety at work performance of the council during the financial year 2022/2023.