Agenda item

To consider the adequacy of the Council’s health and safety arrangements.  

10.1          The report of the Environmental Safety Officer, circulated at Pages No. 78-92, summarised the Council’s health and safety performance between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 and the work proposed for the next year.  Members were asked to consider the adequacy of the Council’s health and safety arrangements.

10.2          The Head of Community Services advised that the report aimed to give reassurance that the Council was complying with its responsibilities under health and safety legislation.  The Council’s Health, Safety and Welfare Policy stated that elected Members had a responsibility for ensuring that the Chief Executive and Head of Community Services were adequately resourced and supported in achieving compliance with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 so the report helped to assist Members to carry out this responsibility.  Progress against the action plan, and the actions planned for the coming year, was set out at Pages No. 87-92 of the report.

10.3          A Member noted there had been no accidents or incidents which required reporting under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) and only one accident reported by Tewkesbury Borough Council staff during the period and he asked whether Ubico and Tewkesbury Leisure Centre were included.  The Head of Community Services explained that, whilst the Council did have a responsibility to monitor health and safety compliance of contractors, that was not covered within this report.  In terms of Ubico, he gave assurance that he met with senior management on a quarterly basis and an annual report was provided to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which included health and safety information so he felt there were adequate arrangements in place for monitoring.  A Member raised concern that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee received this information but the Audit and Governance Committee did not and the Head of Community Services indicated that he could ask internal audit colleagues to discuss this with Ubico’s auditors to ensure they were all satisfied with the arrangements.  In response to a query regarding the Keep Safe Stay Healthy Group, Members were informed that the Group met quarterly, it was chaired by the Head of Community Services and was attended by representatives from all departments along with the Lead Member for Organisational Development.  A Member indicated that he could not recall receiving an induction which covered health and safety, fire, first aid etc. when he had been elected as a Borough Councillor and he asked whether all staff received them and how this was monitored.  The Head of Community Services confirmed that all new members of staff were required to undergo an induction and health and safety information was included within that.  The Corporate Director explained that new Members were subject to a full induction programme in relation to their function as Members and that included various training etc.; however, she was unsure whether health and safety aspects were covered within that.  She pointed out that Members were advised of the evacuation procedure at the start of every Council and Committee meeting as part of the Agenda but she undertook to think about whether it was necessary to include health and safety within the formal Member induction programme. 

10.4          A Member drew attention to Pages No. 87-88 of the action plan in relation to the workplace wellbeing programme and indicated that she was impressed with the amount of information provided on the Council’s intranet.  She asked if it was possible to gather feedback on the success of some of the initiatives in relation to stopping smoking, weight loss etc.  Page No. 90 of the report stated that the Council was striving for excellence in terms of the health and wellbeing of its workforce and she expressed the view that it would help to have some facts and figures to show the success of the initiatives; although, ultimately, if they helped just one person they were worthwhile in her view. The Head of Corporate Services confirmed that the Council had recently achieved the foundation level of the Gloucestershire Healthy Workplace Award – this was a fantastic achievement which had been reported at the Transform Working Group on 14 July 2022 and a Member Update would also be circulated shortly.  The Chair asked that it be put on record that the Audit and Governance Committee was delighted with the Council’s commitment to health and wellbeing.

10.5          It was

RESOLVED           That the annual health and safety report be NOTED.