Archived decisions

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Governance Committee Item

26^th June 2008

Health and Safety Arrangements within Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service

Report by the Chief Officer

Contact: Andy Bowers, Area Manager Tel: 023 80 644000 ext 3224

1

Summary

1.1

This report describes the Health and Safety arrangements in place in Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and a summary of Health and Safety issues over the preceding year

1.2

The mandate for this report comes from the previous report received by the HFRA Governance Committee on 28^th March 2008, regarding The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and its implications for the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (HFRA) and for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS)

2

Recommendations

2.1

That the Committee note the content of this report.

2.2

That the Committee endorses the reporting template of Section 4 and Appendix A as the format for future annual health and safety reports.

2.3

That the Committee endorse the review and refresh of Health and Safety arrangements that has taken place.

2.4

That in future the Governance Committee receive the annual report on Health and Safety, and that any necessary ad hoc reports on Health and Safety be presented to either the Human Resources Committee or the Performance Review Committee as appropriate

2.5

That member involvement with Health and Safety is increased with a specific reference holder being nominated.

3

Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined.and Background

3.1

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and took effect on 6 April 2008. The previous report gave the Committee an overview of the legislation and contained the recommendation that there be an annual Health and Safety report.

3.2

At the same time the responsibility for management of Health of Safety within HFRS has transferred to the Service Delivery Directorate and this has resulted in a complete review and refresh of our Health and Safety Arrangements through 2007 and the first quarter of 2008.

3.3

The previous report required the Chief Officer to produce a report for the Committee containing;

· A thorough review of the Service's existing health and safety arrangements

· Proposals for future method of reporting on the management of health and safety within the Service.

· Notable practice

· Planned improvements

· Feedback from external audits

· Recommendations for the future monitoring of health and safety.

4

Existing Health and Safety Arrangement

4.1

Policy

All existing Health and Safety policies within HFRS have been reviewed and amended or updated where necessary, Following the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) guidance for health and safety management. A system of continued review has been put into place to ensure that all policies continue to be working effectively and efficiently.

Our overarching Health and Safety Strategy is also being re-written to update it and make it more user-friendly and relevant.

4.2

Organisation

The responsibility for management of the Health and Safety function transferred into the Service Delivery Directorate in 2007 and this resulted in a year long review and refresh of all aspects of Health and Safety. Whilst the implementation of Health and Safety is the responsibility of all personnel, HFRS has a dedicated team giving advice, guidance and monitoring services. The team is lead by a professionally qualified Health and Safety Advisor, who is located at the Eastleigh annexe together with a team of three staff.

The Health and Safety Working Group brings together management and staff to look at relevant issues, and this group then reports into the Workforce Wellbeing Strategy Group (chaired by Director of HR Geoff Howsego) which is the direct link into Directors and the Senior Management Team. All workplaces have identified safety representatives and a comprehensive programme of regular inspections is used to identify and eliminate any potential hazards. Safety event reporting has been strengthened so that both actual incidents and near misses are reported and investigated.

4.3

Planning

Planning for Health and Safety is undertaken on an annual basis with workplace inspections, Risk Assessment reviews and all other documentation planned for and reviewed each year. A training matrix detailing the Health and Safety training requirements for all staff is in place and training is planned for a year in advance through the annual Training Needs Analysis. Access to professional qualifications and professional bodies enables us to receive early notification of legislative or regulatory changes so as to be able to plan for them. Each year the Health and Safety Department produces a Medium Term Plan outlining developments and direction of travel.

4.4

Measurement

HFRS will continue to internally measure its performance and benchmark against other fire and rescue services wherever possible. Members will be interested in the recent Parliamentary written answer from the Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda reporting injuries at operational incidents (included as Appendix B). It can be seen that for the last year on record 2006/2007 HFRS was the third lowest fire and rescue service behind only the Scilly Isles and Lincolnshire. This decline in accident rates over the last three years is seen as a good indicator that a culture of health and safety is being embedded in HFRS.

4.5

Audit

HFRS will apply to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)for audit and accreditation on an annual basis. The Gold Award we have achieved for 2008 is the third in the last four years and we will continue to build upon this good foundation, and look to achieve further success with RoSPA.

We will also seek external audit at least every two years, either as part of the regional collaboration through the Regional Management Board arrangements, or through Hampshire County Council. Audit reports will be presented to the Authority or appropriate committee for scrutiny once any necessary action plan has been devised.

4.6

Review

All policies and supporting documents will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure their continued efficiency and effectiveness. New legislation or regulatory change will be incorporated into policy at the earliest opportunity. The Health and Safety Advisor and line management will monitor the Health and Safety environment and warn and inform HFRS and the Authority of any relevant or pertinent changes.

HFRS will continue to maintain a Corporate Risk Register of Health and Safety issues and the Senior Management Team will receive a bi-monthly Health and Safety update. The newly formed Workforce Wellbeing Strategy Group will continue the work of the previous Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Group in ensuring that the health and safety of our staff is of paramount importance.

5

Future Reporting Method

5.1

It is considered appropriate that the Governance Committee receive an annual Health and Safety report based upon the format and content of Section 4 and Appendix A of this report. The timing of the report to be the first available Governance Committee after the end of the financial year, and reporting on the previous 12 month period. The presentation of the report will provide members of the Committee the opportunity to scrutinise progress and critically examine the Service's approach.

5.2

The report should include a breakdown of workplace accident and injuries over the previous year, describing how many, the type of injury or accident, how many working days were lost, and any outcome such as changes to policy etc. A table showing the figures for the last three years is included at appendix A.

5.3

Notwithstanding the Annual Report, HFRS will report to the relevant committee on an ad hoc basis any significant developments in the area of Health and Safety, such as new legislation; and on any significant Health and Safety event occurring within the period at the earliest opportunity.

5.4

Increased Member involvement within the area of Health and Safety will give direct communication on any significant issues and will improve awareness and give reassurance to Members of the efficiency and effectiveness of current arrangements.

6

Notable Practice

6.1

HFRS strives to be the best fire and rescue service in the country. We have recently introduced the Beacon scheme for our fire stations and this includes performance indicators for Health and Safety. We will look to take a lead within the region on Health and Safety and become involved in the national arena as well.

From these opportunities we will seek to identify notable practice and where improvements can be made, adopting a policy of continuous improvement in Health and Safety.

7

Planned improvements

7.1

Through June and July 2008 HFRS will be launching a new Health and Safety Strategy, a Health and Safety Guidance Manual for all staff, a Health and Safety Partnership Agreement (modelled on the Human Resources example), and a new Medium Term Plan for the Health and Safety team itself. Together with the recently completed review and refresh of all Health and Safety policies and the improvements in Health and Safety at incidents. This will seek to strengthen our current arrangements.

8

Feedback from external audits

8.1

During this reporting period HFRS has once again been successful in achieving the RoSPA `Gold' Award. This award is given after external audit by RoSPA who have recognised HFRS as `excellent'. Full details of the award criteria are included as Appendix C.

8.2

At the time of production of this report Hampshire County Council is currently auditing Health and Safety in HFRS. Although no results are available yet a copy of the findings and any recommendations will be presented to the Committee at the earliest opportunity.

8.3

At the end of 2008 HFRS will receive an external Quality Safety Audit as part of our regional partnership arrangements for Health and Safety. Again the results of this audit will be made available to the Committee at the earliest opportunity.

9

Future monitoring of health and safety

9.1

HFRS will apply to RoSPA for assessment and accreditation every year using the current Gold Award standard as our benchmark. We will also seek external audit by Hampshire County Council or by another Fire and Rescue Service at least every two years in order to continue to benefit from scrutiny and challenge. Results of all external audits will be reported to the Governance Committee at the earliest opportunity.

9.2

The Health and Safety entry on the Corporate Risk Register will continue to be the driver for senior management and Authority monitoring and leadership of health and safety. Together with a bi-monthly Health and Safety report to Senior Management Team this will maintain the high profile of health and safety and ensure senior management focus.

9.3

Internal arrangements for monitoring and compliance will continue to be rigorously utilised and the Health and Safety Working Group and network of Health and Safety Representatives will be fully engaged and consulted with to ensure employee participation.

10

Contribution to Corporate Aims and Objectives

10.1

Improved Health and Safety arrangements will support our aim of being the best fire and rescue service in the country.

11

Resource Implications

11.1

Human Resources

There are no additional Human Resource implications

11.2

Physical Resources

There are no additional Human Resource implications

11.3

Information and Communications Technology Resources

There are no additional Human Resource implications

11.4

Financial Implications

There are no additional financial implications arising out of this paper.

12

Risk Analysis

12.1

The raft of existing Health and Safety legislation and the enactment of the Corporate Manslaughter Act will inevitably lead to an increased likelihood of prosecution for corporate manslaughter in the event of fatal accidents. Given the enormous risk to the reputation of Fire Authorities inherent in any such prosecution, an even greater emphasis should be placed on health and safety in the Service.

12.2

The Committee should always bear in mind that while it is the health and safety practices of the Service that will be scrutinised in the event of a fatality it would ultimately be the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority that would be liable for prosecution under the Act if there was a relevant breach of the duty of care.

13

Equality Impact Assessment

13.1

The recommendations of this report are assessed as not giving rise to any equality issues for the Authority and are considered compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

14

Conclusions

14.1

The Authority has a duty to ensure that robust health and safety policies and procedures are in place in the Service and that these are underpinned by a supportive culture throughout the whole organisation.

14.2

It is also important that both the Service and the Authority are confident that existing health and safety arrangements in the Service are sufficiently comprehensive and robust so as to withstand external scrutiny or challenge.

14.3

Responsibility for effective health and safety falls both to the Authority and the Service and therefore it is considered appropriate that an annual report, and the ability to question the service directly over Health and Safety issues form part of the process of satisfying Members over the efficiency and effectiveness of Health and Safety arrangements in the service.

14.4

It is considered that the general Health and Safety arrangements in place in Hampshire Fire and Rescue are efficient and effective but that we should continue to seek improvement as Health and Safety is a dynamic area, subject to frequent legislative and regulatory change. The continued success with the RoSPA award is seen as a good indicator of our general performance levels and HFRS will continue to build upon this.

Background Information

The following documents disclose the facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of the report:

None

Note: The list excludes: (1) published works: and (2) documents that disclose exempt or confidential information defined in the Act.

All HFRS Personnel

(Total 1850)

1^st Quarter

(Apr-Jun 2007)

2^nd Quarter

(Jul-Sep 2007)

3^rd Quarter

(Oct-Dec 2007)

4^th Quarter

(Jan-Mar 2008)

Annual total

Work time lost injuries

23

3

9

10

45

No work time lost injuries

18

16

25

22

81

Occupational illness

0

0

0

0

0

Total injuries

41

19

34

32

126

Number of reportable incidents (RIDDOR)

2

12

8

3

25

Number of RIDDOR incidents requiring further investigation by HSE

0

0

0

0

0

Actual working days lost

24

98

136

51

287

All HFRS Personnel

(Total 1850)

1^st Quarter

(Apr-Jun 2006)

2^nd Quarter

(Jul-Sep 2006)

3^rd Quarter

(Oct-Dec 2006)

4^th Quarter

(Jan-Mar 2007)

Annual total

Work time lost injuries

11

13

11

8

43

No work time lost injuries

16

9

15

6

46

Occupational illness

0

0

0

0

0

Total injuries

27

22

26

14

89

Number of reportable incidents (RIDDOR)

8

10

8

5

31

Number of RIDDOR incidents requiring further investigation by HSE

0

0

0

0

0

Actual working days lost

105

96

71

71

343

All HFRS Personnel

(Total 1850)

1^st Quarter

(Apr-Jun 2005)

2^nd Quarter

(Jul-Sep 2005)

3^rd Quarter

(Oct-Dec 2005)

4^th Quarter

(Jan-Mar 2006)

Annual total

Work time lost injuries

10

9

9

15

43

No work time lost injuries

5

7

9

11

32

Occupational illness

0

0

0

0

0

Total injuries

15

16

18

26

75

Number of reportable incidents (RIDDOR)

8

7

2

11

28

Number of RIDDOR incidents requiring further investigation by HSE

0

0

0

0

0

Actual working days lost

96

139

5

52

292

Firefighters in England injured attending operational incidents between 1998-99 and 2006-07

Fire and Rescue Service

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03^{( 1)}

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Avon

55

80

92

85

131

94

46

33

37

Bedfordshire and Luton

61

44

43

28

33

7

31

15

19

Buckinghamshire

37

27

24

24

10

21

15

14

21

Cambridgeshire

69

64

44

46

35

48

34

40

39

Cheshire

49

46

49

39

48

59

58

23

32

Cleveland

25

37

29

n/a

32

43

29

34

45

Cornwall

17

33

40

27

33

31

28

37

18

County Durham and Darlington

41

41

31

32

53

33

28

0

16

Cumbria

40

43

61

41

43

36

40

26

23

Derbyshire

85

58

71

46

49

35

63

23

26

Devon

68

78

109

52

50

65

41

41

39

Dorset

43

47

47

79

43

65

52

40

37

East Sussex

35

51

26

57

47

86

55

61

73

Essex

67

92

103

89

62

102

67

73

103

Gloucestershire

31

25

49

45

40

44

36

19

26

Greater Manchester

232

293

261

219

184

188

176

129

118

Hampshire

50

76

81

50

50

80

38

21

10

Hereford and Worcester

29

14

34

29

38

43

45

23

30

Hertfordshire

35

57

51

42

62

135

73

80

26

Humberside

63

90

57

91

81

58

62

29

26

Isle of Wight

7

22

6

16

1.6

6

4

6

18

Isles of Scilly

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

Kent

92

97

79

81

60

104

88

79

67

Lancashire

42

61

76

n/a

62

59

67

47

45

Leicestershire

50

35

47

36

41

39

13

16

16

Lincolnshire

33

15

22

27

18

18

19

21

6

London

431

448

486

388

387

413

244

238

199

Merseyside

79

112

74

61

83

90

133

59

71

Norfolk

41

65

40

56

47

64

34

34

46

North Yorkshire

39

37

34

28

32

39

24

35

34

Northamptonshire

37

30

44

47

55

52

63

51

47

Northumberland

20

19

24

19

14

20

19

16

13

Nottinghamshire

65

69

62

75

96

67

48

58

36

Oxfordshire

53

45

39

61

22

36

13

22

22

Royal Berkshire

60

64

69

31

34

47

19

25

28

Shropshire

28

22

16

28

26

27

15

22

20

Somerset

48

24

24

60

33

60

16

16

14

South Yorkshire

47

65

66

85

86

74

55

56

57

Staffordshire

55

75

113

54

62

64

87

84

49

Suffolk

65

78

61

49

65

63

16

18

51

Surrey

91

49

54

54

110

233

84

104

86

Tyne and Wear

103

110

95

96

99

95

46

37

41

Warwickshire

28

32

27

22

17

52

30

27

11

West Midlands

140

135

140

146

155

228

219

138

107

West Sussex

52

51

63

45

27

42

25

40

52

West Yorkshire

101

141

121

144

111

123

100

90

72

Wiltshire

26

18

21

31

25

32

17

22

24

Total

2,965

3,215

3,205

2,861

2,909

3,420

2,515

2,122

1,996

n/a = Information not available.
⁽¹⁾ In 2002-03 there was a period of industrial action, which lasted for 15 days.