To consider a report by the Commercial Team Leader regarding the delivery of the Health and Safety Service Plan for the period 1st April to 30th September 2016.
Contact:K Lawson 388291
Minutes:
With the assistance of a report by the Commercial Team Leader (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Committee received an update on progress made against the Council’s Health and Safety Service Plan during the period 1st April to 30th September 2016.The report provided information on the health and safety service together with data about the level of activity in each of the service areas.
By way of introduction, the Commercial Team Leader explained that the programmed work is largely driven by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in particular the National Enforcement Code and the Help GB Work Well Strategy.
By way of an update, Members were advised that -
v 58 Premises Inspections and Interventions have now been completed, in the period to 17th November 2016;
v A bespoke Business Card aimed to signpost new businesses to the best sources of health and safety advice had recently been produced by the Council; and
v that 16 ‘Matters of Evident Concern’ (MEC) had been recorded since 1st April 2016, the most recent being only a few days prior to the meeting and had resulted in the issue of a Health and Safety at Work Act notice.
Attention was then drawn to Appendix 1 to the report which compared the recorded activity in each of the service areas with the predicted activity in the approved Service Plan. Members were advised that the number of health and safety complaints and requests for service were already in excess of the number approved within the Plan and that if these continued to increase there could be a knock on effect on the delivery of other services.
The Committee were advised that 13 accident and dangerous occurrence investigations had commenced within the period, details of some of the more serious were highlighted within the report. It was reported that the selection of accidents for investigation was based upon the risk-based criteria in Local Authority Circular (LAC) 22/13.
In welcoming the revised layout which was much easier to understand, Members raised a number of questions with regards to the contents of the report.
With regard to asbestos notifications, Members were advised that the Commercial Team only dealt with statutory notifications from Asbestos contractors and that issues relating to fly-tipping were dealt with by the Council’s Neighbourhoods Intervention Team. In addition, the Committee were informed that businesses were classified as high risk, in accordance with the Health and Safety Executive’s Local Authority Enforcement Code which also sets out the circumstances around which Local Authorities can undertake unannounced visits.
Having noted that Officers were satisfied that the Plan remained deliverable, Members questioned at what point resources would prove inadequate given that reactive activity was increasing. In response to which, the Commercial Team Leader explained that should the number of complaints and requests for service continue to increase, consideration could be given to the introduction of a selection criteria for prioritising these issues. He was confident that given that Health and Safety was a only a small proportion of the total workload, it was unlikely that this would ever become unmanageable. In addition, the Committee were reminded that the Commercial Team had been holding a vacancy for some time, which it was proposed to fill as part of the restructuring proposals for the Community Division.
The Committee were advised that Huntingdonshire is in an increasing minority of local authorities who continue to provide a robust Health and Safety Service and Members emphasised the importance of continuing to protect those who live and work with the District.
In response to a question concerning the number of “Matters of Evident Concern” and the potential for these to divert Officers from other activities , the Committee were advised that the Council’s approach was consistent with their commitment to risk-based interventions and there was no adverse effect on service delivery. To ignore a Matter of Evident Concern would be in breach of an Officer’s professional Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics.
Members were then invited to consider the need for further monitoring reports to be submitted to future meetings, particularly where the Service is on target to deliver the programmed work within the Service Plan. Whilst Members were in agreement at the need to continue to monitor the activities within the Plan and to be informed of service developments, it was agreed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman should be authorised to determine whether it was necessary for monitoring reports to appear on the Agenda for discussion or whether they could be circulated to Members of the Committee for information only.
Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
(a) that the contents of the Monitoring Report on the Health and Safety Service Plan for the period 1stApril to 30th September 2016 be noted; and
(a) that the Chair and Vice-Chairman be authorised to establish whether it was necessary for future monitoring reports to appear on the Agenda for discussion at future meetings.
Supporting documents: