Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director Community

The Head of Community and Public Protection introduced the report, highlighting the key trends and developments.  He drew particular attention to the increasing awareness among staff and managers of the need to report relevant incidents so that a full picture of health and safety issues could be obtained; this was the dominant factor in the higher number of incidents compared to the previous recording periods.

In response to a Member’s question about physical assaults in schools, the Head of Community and Public Protection advised that many of the incidents were related to children in special schools where there were specific factors behind the children’s behaviours; the schools were very experienced in appropriate risk assessment and training, and in managing such incidents.  The figures were higher this year due to the increased reporting, so he expected the level to stabilise the following year and then, hopefully, reduce over time.

A Member asked about the coordination of reporting processes between schools and the Council.  It was explained that staff shared a common corporate software programme which allowed schools to make timely, direct reports of incidents.  In response to a Member’s concerns about the scale of the increase in reported incidents, the Head of Community and Public Protection underlined the new approach to encouraging reports and also explained that many of the “incidents”  were minor with only the potential of risk to health and safety rather than any actual injury. 

In response to two further questions, the Head of Community and Public Protection advised that there had been no significant increase in insurance claims related to the incidents reported and that the Occupational Health staff worked independently of the Human Resources function.

A Member asked about the make-up of the “others” category in the summary information in Appendix 1.  The Head of Community and Public Protection pointed to the more detailed breakdown of information later in the appendix.

In response to the Chair’s questions, the Head of Community and Public Protection advised that reports under the statutory Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) had decreased and that the reporting of an individual incident through the database took no longer than 15 minutes, often less than this.  The Chair also asked about incidents of self-harm; the Head of Community and Public Protection confirmed these were rare, though there had been increased sensitivity to mental health issues in the new approaches to health and safety reporting.  The Chair was please to see no enforcement cases involving the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); the Council had maintained a positive, proactive and open relationship with the HSE.

In response to the Chair’s question about asbestos management, the Health and Safety Compliance Manager advised that new reporting arrangements had been put in place from the start of the current financial year; it was the first time the Council had such an asbestos management plan.  Performance against the plan’s targets was on track at this stage. 

RESOLVED:  That   

(1)          the Accidents and Incidents report for information be noted;

(2)          the Health and Safety Strategy, as set out in Appendix 3, be approved; and

(3)          the annual Health and Safety Policy in Appendix 6 be approved.