Communities and Housing Services - Annual Health and Safety Plan 2022-23 CHAP 16 08 22
Renfrewshire Council · 16 August 2022
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 16 August 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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___________________________________________________________________ TO: Communities and Housing Policy Board ON: 16 August 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ REPORT BY: Director of Communities and Housing Services ___________________________________________________________________ HEADING: Communities and Housing Services - Annual Health and Safety Plan 2022/23 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1. The Council’s Corporate Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy 2019-22 requires that all Services produce an annual Health & Safety Plan. The Communities and Housing Services Plan is attached at Appendix 1 and reviews the Health & Safety performance of Communities and Housing Services in the previous financial year 2021/22 and sets out the future objectives in an Action Plan for the current financial year, 2022 to 2023. 1.2. This report therefore summarises Communities and Housing Services approach to Health and Safety and demonstrates the continued drive to enhance the arrangements in place for the management of Health & Safety and continuous improvement in relation to Health & Safety performance. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1. It is recommended that the Communities and Housing Policy Board: (i) approve the Communities and Housing Services Annual Health and Safety Plan 2022/23. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1. With approximately 400 FTE members of staff, Communities and Housing Services aims to create, develop, support, protect and empower Renfrewshire’s communities. This includes managing and investing in our housing stock of approximately 12,350 properties and providing services to council tenants, alongside housing advice and support, assisting homeless people and those threatened with homelessness and ensuring people have safe and healthy places to live.
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3.2. This work links closely with our community protection role safeguarding public health and protecting the environment, consumers, workers and local communities. Within these communities, we encourage people to fulfil their potential and ensure they have equal access to a range of learning and development opportunities. Community Learning and Development teams work to build this capacity in young people and other individuals, families, groups and communities. 3.3. In delivering the above, it is of paramount importance that the health, safety and wellbeing of all staff is maintained. 3.4. The Communities and Housing Health and Safety Representative Chairs the Health and Safety Working Group with relevant Managers and also sits on the Renfrewshire Council Corporate Health and Safety Working Group. The Officer reviews and oversees accidents and incidents and disseminates anything raised by Corporate Health and Safety. 3.5. For governance purposes, health and safety (both Corporately and at a Service level), is a standard agenda item that is discussed at the quarterly Communities and Housing Resilience Management Team - chaired by the Service Director. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Potential exists for financial liability from property damage, civil or criminal prosecutions through the outcome of accidents and/or ill health. This report demonstrates Communities and Housing Services compliance and commitment to Health and Safety policies and procedures. 2. HR & Organisational Development – The report supports the Council’s commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of employees. 3. Community Planning Renfrewshire is well – Communities and Housing Services will improve the physical and healthier wellbeing of staff across the Service through participation in the ‘Healthy Working Lives’ and ‘Your Health Matters’ programmes and any other corporate initiatives promoting a healthier life. Renfrewshire is safe - Recognising that the employees are its most valuable asset, Communities, Housing and Planning Services will provide training and support to allow them to develop within the organisation and gain the skills and experience necessary to provide a quality service to customers. 4. Legal – Compliance with statutory legislation and Corporate Health and Safety policies and guidance. 5. Property/Assets – The maintenance of an asbestos register with respect to domestic council properties and an obligation to conduct workplace inspections. 6. Information Technology – None
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7. Equality & Human Rights - a) The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report because it is for noting only. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – This report supports and demonstrates Communities, Housing and Planning Services commitment to ensuring effective Health and Safety management. 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – This report and plan looks to mitigate potential prosecution or civil action from work related accidents. 11. Privacy Impact – None 12. CoSLA Policy Position – N/A 13. Climate Change – N/A __________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers None ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Chris Dalrymple Email: chris.dalrymple@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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Appendix 1 COMMUNITIES AND HOUSING SERVICES ANNUAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REPORT AND ACTION PLAN 2022/23
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Foreword This annual report and action plan is prepared by Communities and Housing Services in accordance with Renfrewshire Council’s Health and Safety Policy and Plan, the purpose of which is to evaluate the health and safety performance of the Service and to set future health and safety objectives. The report and plan demonstrate the services commitment to the corporate health and safety policy and to fulfilling any legal obligations placed on the service by the Health and Safety at Work etc, Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
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1. Introduction 1.1 The Council’s Health & Safety Policy and Plan requires that all Services produce an annual Health & Safety Plan. The plan reviews the health and safety performance of the Service in the previous calendar year, 2021/22, and through the action plan, sets future health and safety aims and objectives for 2022-25. 1.2 The action plan sets key performance indicators for 2022-25 and future performance will be measured against these indicators. 1.3 Communities and Housing Services aim to create, develop, support, protect and empower Renfrewshire’s communities. From managing our housing stock of approximately 12,216 properties and providing housing advice and assistance to vulnerable people, we ensure people have safe and healthy places to live. This work links closely with our public protection role safeguarding public health and protecting the environment, consumers, workers and local communities. 1.4 These services are delivered by approximately 521 employees (which equates to 390 FTEs). Across the service, there are 111 vacant posts, which equates to 95 FTEs. The service had a gross expenditure budget of £15.6m for general fund activities in 2021/22, and £53.7m in the Housing Revenue Account, which is ring fenced for the provision of social housing. 1.5 The Communities and Housing Services health and safety policy reflects the commitment of the Director, Heads of Service and Managers to ensure that the main priorities are achieved within a safe environment which is not harmful to the health of employees, clients and other users of the service. 1.6 It is intended that this report demonstrates the service’s commitment to maintaining and developing the Communities and Housing Services health and safety strategy and highlights our intention to maintain a high level of health and safety performance. 2. Management of Health and Safety within the Service Broad context of health and safety policy 2.1 The Director of Communities and Housing Services is responsible for ensuring the health, safety and welfare at work of employees within the service. The Director is assisted in this by Heads of Service, managers and employees who are expected to co-operate in the implementation of Communities and Housing Services health and safety policy. 2.2 Health and safety is managed through quarterly Resilience Management Team meetings and the Health and Safety Joint Committee and Planning Group meetings which have representation from senior management, the health and safety coordinator, corporate health and safety and trade unions. 2.3 The joint Health and Safety Committee and Planning Group meetings are chaired by the service’s Health and Safety Coordinator and consider: (a) Accidents - statistics, trends, investigations and other information to identify causes and provide so far as is practicable for their prevention. (b) Workplace inspections (internal) and audits (Corporate and external) (c) The planning, performance management and review of our approach to Health & Safety
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(d) The monitoring and implementation of the Health & Safety action plan (e) The identification, assessment and recording of risks (f) Actions arising from the deliberations of the corporate Health & Safety committee (g) Actions arising from the corporate and service Risk Management and planning arrangements, and (h) New developments in Health & Safety arising from legislation and Government and Council policy 2.4 The joint Health and Safety Committee and Planning Group comprises of managers or section representatives from each of the Communities and Housing Services divisions, the Service’s Health and Safety Co-ordinator, representatives from Corporate Health and Safety and representatives from trade unions. 2.5 The joint Health and Safety Committee and Planning Group meet quarterly, and meetings generally align with Corporate Health and Safety meetings. Minutes of the meetings are distributed to the Director, Heads of Service, Senior Managers and trade union representatives. 2.6 The overall objective of Communities and Housing Services is to ensure that health, safety and wellbeing is an integral part of its business, and all service areas continually seek to develop a positive culture and attitude amongst their staff to achieve this. 2.7 The health and safety policy will provide a framework for the management of health, safety and wellbeing within Communities and Housing Services. 3. Organisation for implementing health and safety management Health and Safety Planning Group 3.1 The Resilience Management Team (formerly the Crisis & Resilience Management Team) review all Communities and Housing Services health and safety issues. It is chaired by the Director of Communities and Housing Services with senior representatives including, Heads of Service, Principal Officers and a Senior Health and Safety Officer from Finance and Corporate Services. This group meets quarterly with health and safety as an agenda item. 3.2 The Communities and Housing Services, Health and Safety Co-ordinator attends the quarterly Corporate Health and Safety Committee meetings. At these meetings information is provided by Corporate Health and Safety officers regarding the latest Health and Safety initiatives and any updates or revisions on Health and Safety Legislation or Corporate Policies. Consultation mechanisms 3.3 Information on health and safety issues are communicated to employees using various internal channels such as strategic meetings, operations meetings, trade union meetings, workload reviews, performance reviews, toolbox talks, e-mail and notice boards.
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3.4 The joint Health and Safety Committee and Planning Group provides a forum for the exchange of views and consultations on Health & Safety issues between management and Trade Unions. This ensures that information is exchanged and disseminated to all employees. 4. Planning and setting standards Setting of health and safety objectives 4.1 The Joint Committee and Planning Group is responsible for developing and promoting a positive health, safety and wellbeing culture throughout Communities and Housing Services. This is achieved through continual assessment, monitoring and review of the health safety action plan. 4.2 In setting clear health and safety objectives, the group will consider matters such as: a) Developments or changes in the regulation of health and safety in the workplace or in working practices, and b) The identification of areas where there is a need for improvement that may entail the implementation of safe working practices or investment in equipment, and c) The need for training and raising awareness in relation to health and safety issues. 4.3 When setting objectives, the Joint Committee and Planning Group takes cognisance of the Council’s corporate strategic aims, Corporate Policy on Health, Safety and Welfare and the aims set out by the “Our People, Our Future 2021-2026” document. Training 4.4 Communities and Housing Services recognises that health and safety training is a key factor in the reduction of accidents and prevention of ill-health. The service actively supports, organises and carries out such training.
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4.5 The following i-learn Health and Safety training was carried out in 2021-22 across the Service: Module Count of Username Accident & Incident Reporting (RIDDOR) 6 ACT Awareness 2022 e‐learning 12 Display Screen Equipment Awareness 374 Driving at Work ‐ Light Vehicles 74 Equal Partners in Care Level 1: Carer Aware 3 Fire Module 20 Guidance on Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020 2 Introduction to Food Hygiene ‐ Module 1 (unaccredited version) 3 Ladder safety awareness 46 Manual Handling Module 9 Personal Hygiene ‐ Module 4 (unaccredited version) 1 Remote Health and Safety Module 16 Safe Handling and Storage of Food ‐ Module 3 (unaccredited version) 2 Supporting Employees Experiencing Domestic Abuse 26 Types of bacteria and food poisoning bacteria ‐ Module 2 (unaccredited version) 1 Using the Lifepak Defibrillator 12 Watch your step ‐ intermediate course 20 Watch your step ‐ introduction to slips and trips 23 Grand Total 650 5. Measuring performance 5.1 The action plan from the current annual Health & Safety plan is monitored on Pentana, the Council’s performance management system. Quarterly reports are produced to monitor performance against the key performance indicators detailed in the plan. Monitoring 5.2 The quarterly accident/incident statistics are scrutinised by the Joint Committee and Planning Group to identify any trends and implement initiatives to address them. The number of reported accident/incidents for Communities and Housing Services for the period 1st April 2021 – 31st March 2022 was 18. The summary of this year and previous years accident/incidents are summarised in the table below. It should be noted that the services included changed when we moved from Communities, Housing and Planning Services to Communities and Housing Services therefore statistics no longer include Planning or Building Standards who now sit within the Chief Executive Service.
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5.3 All reported incidents and accidents are investigated, and associated risk assessments were reviewed and amended as necessary. There were no recorded RIDDOR reportable accidents or incidents nor were there any HSE interventions during the recording period of 1st April 2021 – 31st March 2022. 5.4 The total number of accidents/incidents increased from the previous year from 9 to 18. Employees returning to their normal work role following COVID may have contributed to this increase, and we have also tried to promote the reporting of incidents through Business World in 2021-2022. 5.5 The table below shows a breakdown for the type of accident/incidents in 2021/22. Violence and aggression cases are clearly the most common type accounting for 10 out of the total 18 (55%). This is comparable to previous years, in 2020/21 7 out of 9 (78%) reported accident/incidents were due to violence and aggression. Due to this the issue of violence and aggression has been a common focus at the joint Health and Safety Committee and Planning Group and this is reflected in the action plan (see Annex 1). Type of Accident Total Violence and Aggression 10 Struck by an object 2 Slip, trips and falls 1 Injured by an animal 2 Fall from Height 1 Other 2 Total 18 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/2020 2020/21 2021/22 Total number of accidents/incidents 10 18 8 37 9 18 (1 was an incident with no persons involved) Accidents/incidents involving employees 7 11 7 24 4 4 Accidents/incidents involving members of the public / people employed by someone else 3 7 1 13 3 13
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5.6 Communities and Housing Services contractors are assessed for their Health and Safety competence in two stages as part of the PQQ process, prior to award of contract and continuous monitoring throughout the contract. Any contractor identified breaking Health and Safety guidelines is issued with a “Notification of Site Hazard / Unsafe Practice” notice. This requires the contractor to address the issue on site immediately and to respond to the follow up investigation by the Service’s Health and Safety Co-ordinator and Corporate Health and Safety, as required. 6. Review of Health and Safety Management 6.1 The Communities and Housing Services joint Health and Safety Committee and planning group will continue to review Health & Safety management issues across the service.
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Annex 1 Communities and Housing Services Health and Safety Action Plan 2022-2025 Health and Safety objective 1: Monitor and review risk assessment and safe system of work. Key themes: Audit and inspection, Related actions: 1: Undertake a regular programme of risk assessment and safe system of work reviews. 2: Compile departmental risk assessment and safe system of work register. Health and Safety objective 2: Aim to reduce the number of workplace accidents and incidents. Key themes: Violence and aggression Related actions: 1: Undertake regular programme of health and safety training and information sharing for all staff. 2: Undertake violence aggression training for all at risk employees. 3. Make staff aware of the new health and safety incident reporting system and encourage reporting of incidents and near misses. 4: Continually monitor accident trends and statistics to identify risk and provide, so far as is practicable, for its prevention/reduction.
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Health and Safety objective 3: Aim to improve Mental Health and Wellbeing of staff Key themes: Mental Health, wellbeing and addressing stress Related actions: 1: Encourage staff to take part in the Health, Safety and Welfare training opportunities. 2: Continually monitor accident trends and statistics to identify risk that could be contributing towards stress and provide, so far as is practicable, for its prevention/reduction. 3: Promote the People Strategy- Our People Our Future within the Service and support its aims. 4: Promote the use of Mental Health First Aiders within the Service 5: Continue to provide up to date information to staff on Mental Health and Wellbeing support. 6. Promote the corporate Health and Wellbeing survey (due August 2022) and use the results to focus CAHS work on Health and Wellbeing. Health and Safety objective 4: Ensure appropriate health and safety training is delivered and recorded. Key themes: Audits and inspection, Related actions: 1: Record and report on all health and safety related training
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Health and Safety objective 5: Aim to support staff in COVID recovery Key themes: Health, Safety and Wellbeing Related actions: 1: Keep staff up to date with COVID procedures and working conditions as they are revised. 2: Continue to support staff who have been shielding. 3. Review and update COVID risk assessments as guidance from corporate health and safety and SG is updated. 4. Promote the People Strategy- Our People Our Future within the Service, particularly its post pandemic aims. Health and Safety objective 6: Undertake a programme of regular health and safety audits and inspection. Key theme: Audits and inspection Related actions: 1: Undertake a CAHS staff survey to establish current health and safety awareness among employees. 2: Continual monitoring of all actions contained within the CAHS health and safety action plan.