Agenda item

4.

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The Head of Assurance presented the report. He said that the information had been drawn from the Corporate Health and Safety Board work programme and was focused on issues that had been raised by members formally and during informal discussions.

Members were advised that a meeting of the Corporate Health and Safety Board had been scheduled for Thursday 26 January 2023, but had been postponed until Monday 6 February. The Board was out of sync with this meeting, but the subject matter to be discussed had been included in the report.

The Head of Assurance gave an overview of the incidents for each directorate. He said that data for incidents involving staff and members of the public could not be separated at the present time. The remit of this Committee was the safety of members of the public and he acknowledged that this information should be available. Data collection would be modified over the coming year to ensure that this information was available.

In a response to a question about the large increase in incidents across directorates, the Head of Assurance said that there had been movement of service between the directorates. He gave an example that in 2021 Corporate Resources did not include passenger services but was included in 2022. In addition, more staff were working from home and would not necessarily report a trip or fall. Staff had returned to offices, and this could be a reason why reports of incidents had risen. In addition, reporting had changed so that the information had been amalgamated onto one page. It was difficult to determine whether there were more incidents or more reporting. He considered that there was more reporting; the severity of the incidents had not increased. Monitoring of incidents would continue.

The 3 RIDDORS mentioned in the report related to fractures and broken bones. There were various 7-day absences. This included one for Corporate Resources when someone exited a vehicle and was concussed.

Members were advised that the GMB representative had sent apologies for this meeting. There had not been a response from any of the other unions. The Chair said that she was keen for union representatives to attend this Committee and suggested that this be considered outside this meeting. The Head of Assurance said that union representatives were invited to and attended the Corporate Health and Safety Board.

In response to a question about how easy it was to report an incident, the Head of Assurance said that information was included in the introduction to health and safety training. There was a simple dropdown menu to complete on the intranet. Reporting of incidents was encouraged and in the next few months an audit programme would be rolled out which would be looking at individual services. Line managers were encouraged to report any staff incidents. The Health and Safety team then had confirmation that the manager was aware of any incidents within their team.

Community libraries were being used as warm hubs. The Head of Assurance agreed to find out whether staff had been trained to manage incidents that could occur with an increase of people on the premises.

Members were advised that defibrillators were provided on request. If a service area considered that there was a benefit to having the equipment, a request could be made to facilities management. Members did not consider this ad hoc system to be acceptable and agreed that the Council should adopt a policy for all the defibrillators in council owned buildings. The four sites referred to in the report were not always open and signage for the equipment was not clear. There was information about where defibrillators were in schools. The Chair asked officers to investigate provision of defibrillators and policies in other authorities.

In response to a question about eLearning courses, the Head of Assurance agreed to check the figures for the display screen equipment and Introduction to Health and Safety courses which were considered low.

The Chair said that she would attend the next meeting of the Corporate Assurance Board and report back to this Committee about how they were operating and how the directors fed into the overall health and safety message. She said she would write to members and submit a report on her findings to the next meeting of this Committee

RESOLVED that

(i)      the report be noted,

(ii)     a policy for defibrillators be adopted and the policies and practises of other authorities be investigated and included in the Health and Safety Forward Plan,

(iii)     the Chair send a report to members of this Committee following her   attendance at the Corporate Assurance Board;

(iv)    information about whether staff in libraries had received sufficient training to manage the potential increase of residents in buildings used as community hubs be sent to members of the Committee,

(v)     figures for the display screen equipment and Introduction to Health and Safety courses be checked because they were considered to be low; and

(vi)    further attempts be made to encourage unions to attend future meetings of this Committee.

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