Agenda item

The Panel will consider the Statutory Health & Safety Service Plan 24-25.

Conatct:

James Kaye, Environmental Health Group Leader, Environmental Health,

The Panel considered an update on the Statutory Health and Safety Service Plan 2024-25which was presented by James Kaye, Public Protection Group Leader. The presentation outlined:

·         The responsibilities of the Local Authorities and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in co enforcing provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974(HSAWA).

·         The responsibilities of Local Authorities, which included:

o   LA enforcement within 65% of all workplaces within Great Britain, accounting for over 2million premises - a significant role in keeping workers and members of the public safe while at work.

o   Generally overseeing health and safety in leisure, retail, office and warehouse environments.

·         The key aim of the work, which was to protect people’s health and safety by ensuring risks in the workplace were properly managed.

·         The service priorities for 2023/2024, which were to ensure risks in the workplace were managed properly by:

o   Having risk-based intervention plans focused on specific risk.

o   Use national and local Intelligence to inform service priorities.

o   Consider a wide range of interventions.

o   Work in line with Enforcement Code guidance (LAC) and be transparent in the approach by welcoming review by the HSE (LAE1 statutory return) and other critical friends. 

·         The key outcomes for 2023/2024, which included:

o   22 proactive investigations carried out at builders merchants and very few issues were found.

o   18 onsite investigations carried out to address the hazard of work-related stress in residential care homes.

o   74 reactive visits made to businesses to investigate serious accidents or serious health and safety complaints.

o   The blocking of an open mezzanine level following the serving of a prohibition notice.

·         The service priorities for 2024/2025, which included:

o   To continue to investigate all major accidents and Health and Safety complaints.

o   To continue the work-related stress project, including a key focus on residential care homes.

o   Planned preventive maintenance of Tyre and Exhaust Sector.

o   Raising awareness of pressure vessels in coffee machines

o   Gas safety in commercial premises, with a focus on identifying poorly maintained gas appliances and providing advice to the duty holder.

In the discussion to follow the Panel raised the following questions and comments:

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to the nature of injuries reported, it was advised that most incidents were minor such as slips and trips, but Kirklees would investigate any serious incidents. 

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to the focus on work related stress in residential care homes it was advised that the data suggested these workplaces were significantly affected and so this area was prioritised. This area of work also included Council owned care homes.

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to workplace stress and the impact of workplace culture in contributing to stress, it was advised that it was Kirklees’s role to alert businesses to their statutory duty and signpost them to online tools as well as to work with Public Health to promote mental health charities for example.  Where workplace stress was identified in several employees the employer could carry out risk assessment followed by the implementation of specific stress policies for example. The approach taken was individual to the specific business, but the company needed to put the control in place

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to staffing levels, it was advised that the HSE’s guidance was followed. Triaging issues had increased capacity as well as working collaboratively with food safety team to have a greater impact with less resources, and it was noted that both teams were preforming exceptionally well. 

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to the budget, it was advised there was no funding in relation to information technology, but due to high performance there was no need to update current technology.

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to liaison with the health and safety executive, it was advised that legislation set out where Kirklees was required to enforce but there could be anomalies requiring discussion between Kirklees and the health and safety executive.

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to mitigating the risk of long serving officers leaving the service, it was advised that a ‘develop our own staff’ , approach had been adopted to support succession planning. This included

·         handovers between experienced members of staff leaving the organisation to share their valuable knowledge with the rest of the team.  

·         In response to a question from the Panel in relation to fees and charges, it was advised that the Council were guided by Finance and any increases were made in line with inflation.

RESOLVED: The Panel noted the report Statutory Health and Safety Service Plan 24-25and recommended that James Kaye and the team be thanked for their positive work.