Reigate and Banstead Borough Council s2

REIGATE AND BANSTEAD BOROUGH COUNCIL

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

2005/6 HEALTH AND SAFETY SERVICE PLAN

Introduction

This Service Plan tells you how we will protect and promote occupational health and safety in the borough. The plan looks back at our performance during 2003/4, identifies some of the key initiatives we are developing in this current year and sets out our plans for delivering the health and safety service in 2005/6.

The Plan is produced to meet legal requirements and is the cornerstone of our service delivery; it is reviewed annually and placed before the Executive of the Council for discussion and approval. This year we aim to involve our stakeholders for the first time in the production of the Plan.

If you have any comments on our Service or this Plan contact the Health and Safety Manager – Mrs Linda Pickerill on 01737 276410.

The Health and Safety Team are based at the Town Hall, Castlefield Road, Reigate, RH2 0SH, the offices are open to the public from 9.00 – 5.00 daily, (9- 4.45 Fridays). The nature of our job means we are out of the office for much of the day but voicemail facilities are available and we can be contacted during office hours on 01737 276420 or at any time on [email protected].

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council has responsibility for the enforcement of health and safety in 2605 local businesses. Many people are aware of the work of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and their enforcement activities but are not so familiar with the important role local authorities play in the education and enforcement of health and safety in their area, particularly in emerging areas of occupational health such as stress and repetitive strain injuries (RSI).

Who does what?

Responsibility for enforcement is decided by the ‘main activity’ undertaken at the premises. In the main, we are responsible for businesses in the service sector such as offices, shops, residential care homes, leisure and non – factory activities such as launderettes, tyre and exhaust fitters. Our location means we have responsibility for relatively high numbers of retail shops, offices and businesses with a higher risk profile e.g. warehouses, golf courses and residential care homes. Chart 1, Premises we are responsible for 2003/4

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 s il le s g s re e e r a e n l a r c e t a c ri te c u i h e s fi e o l is rv t R le f t a e e O o O a H ti L s h C n r W e e id m s u e s R n o C

The Health and Safety Executive deal with factories and industrial premises, construction sites, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and domestic premises. If you are unsure if your business is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive or this Council please contact us, details of how are at the end of this plan.

What can we deal with?

Health and safety law only applies where there is a work activity and applies to employees and people who may be affected by work activities; this can include customers, contractors and volunteers.

Links with other plans

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have published a Community Plan and are committed to creating a safe place to live, work and visit. Our Corporate Plan – Shaping the Future describes proper enforcement as essential to a fair and ordered society and recognises that when undertaking enforcement preventive work may well prove more cost effective in the long term.

What will the council do to protect health and safety?

Aims and objectives

We will work with duty holders to develop effective controls, to reduce risks and protect the health and safety of employees and the public, arising from work activities, where necessary using the statutory powers of the Council.

We will do this by:

 Undertaking inspections of workplaces, where the Council is the enforcing authority.  Targeting our efforts toward more significant events and high risk activities to maintain a balance between preventive and reactive work.  Responding to complaints, reportable injuries and dangerous occurrences in accordance with agreed policies.  Undertake health and safety training for local businesses.  Undertaking close control of those activities where the potential for significant health problems is high e.g. asbestos removal.  Ensuring the immediate control of serious risk and the promotion of continuous improvement and long term compliance.  Implementing new legislation and HSC/HSE guidance and directives.  Undertaking all action based on existing enforcement policies.

Scope of the health and safety service

We will use the following interventions to assist businesses to meet their legal obligations and to monitor compliance;

 For our highest risk businesses we will undertake programmed health and safety inspections, based on risk, to assess, promote and enforce compliance.  We will undertake investigations into accidents in accordance with our Investigations Policy, Appendix 1. Investigations are undertaken to identify underlying causes and the lessons to be learned, preventing recurrence, detecting breaches and take appropriate action, including where necessary formal enforcement.

 Where complaints are received about workplace conditions we will undertake investigations in accordance with our Investigations Policy, Appendix 1.  We will achieve a balance of enforcement processes to optimise overall effectiveness ensuring a balance between reactive and proactive work.

 We will control immediate serious risks and promote continuous health and safety improvements and long term compliance.

 We will promote health and safety through education, advice and guidance.

 Undertake close control of those activities where the potential for significant health problems is high eg asbestos removal.

 Maintaining registers in respect of radio active substances, evaporative condensers and cooling towers.

Working with others

We will work with the Health and Safety Executive and follow guidance and advice issued by the Health and Safety Commission and HELA.

Our work with dutyholders takes us into a wide range of organisations, where the business is represented by a Lead Authority we will liaise with that authority:

 before taking formal enforcement action

 as soon as practicable after serving a prohibition notice

 when significant findings are identified in the organizations policies and procedures

 following any on site investigation of any death, major injury or case of work- related ill health or any dangerous occurrence.

Enforcement of the law

The Council believes in firm but fair enforcement of health and safety law. The Council has adopted an Enforcement Policy to ensure enforcement is undertaken in a fair, equitable and consistent manner. The Policy can be found on our website (www. reigate-banstead.gov.uk) and sets out our approach to prosecutions and enforcement activity. All our actions will be undertaken in accordance with this policy.

In accordance with our Enforcement Policy we will use the full range of interventions at our disposal;

 advice;  guidance;  negotiation;  education;  warning letters;  enforcement notices and;  as a last resort prosecution.

Last year we issued one enforcement notice requiring the Immediate Prohibition of the use of a dangerous slicing machine. Serious breaches of health and safety requirements resulted in the issue of six Improvement Notices requiring improvements to lifting equipment, work equipment, electrical systems, welfare facilities, and work exposing employees and the public to substances hazardous to health. A further 292 businesses were asked to improve their arrangements for health and safety. No prosecutions were undertaken.

Inspections

To enable our resources to be targeted at the highest risks, we undertake routine inspections based on the risks at the premises and how well those risks are controlled. From our inspection we then work out a risk score and add this to our database after each inspection. Our database can then calculate the date of the next routine inspection, with the highest risk premises being visited more often than those with lower risk scores. Businesses with the lowest risk score are excluded from our routine inspection programme and are dealt with through education initiatives, discussed later in this plan.

Last year we undertook 458 preventive inspections of the 2605 premises where we are responsible for the enforcement of health and safety. We undertook 104 revisits to check on compliance.

Topic based inspections

This year we trialed a new approach to inspections, concentrating our resources on the five key topic areas which contribute nationally to the highest rates of accidents / incidents and ill health at work:

 falls from a height  slips and trips  workplace transport  musculoskeletal disorders and  stress

The trials focused on the priority topics and how dutyholders have identified, minimised and controlled risks associated with these areas. By concentrating on these key areas we aim to continue to reduce, as far as possible, the number of accidents and cases of ill health in the Borough. Our trial inspections were well received by the dutyholders we inspected and next year, in line with national requirements, we will be focussing our inspection resources on topic-based inspections.

If you would like to know more about topic based inspections, a publication Take a fresh look at health and safety (INDG 385) is available from our office or can be found at www. HSE.gov.uk

Priority planning

Our inspection programme is carried out using a risk-based approach, the greater the risk, the more frequent the inspections. Until this year we inspected all our high and medium risk premises. To enable us to focus our resources on the areas where we can do the most good e.g. topic inspections, we need to reconsider this approach. In line with national requirements, we plan to increase the frequency of our visits to highest risk business and reduce our inspection role with less hazardous businesses in accordance with the following table.

Table 1 Priority Planning (Extract from HELA LAC 67/1 (rev) 3) Description LAC No. Score Visit frequency Group Highest A 21 >186 Not less than once per hazard/risk year Intermediate B1 32 171 - 185 Not less than once per hazard/risk eighteen months B2 94 156 - 170 Not less than once per two years B3 123 141 -155 Use other intervention strategies but review rating after 3 years. B4 316 126 -140 Use other intervention strategies but review after 5 years Lowest C 1745 <=125 Use other intervention hazard/risk strategies.

Lower risk premises

Premises falling into the lower hazard group will not normally be included in our routine inspection programme. While this will mean that lower risk businesses will not be included in our inspection programme, risk scores will be reviewed in the light of any accidents or complaints.

Investigations

The Council uses discretion in deciding whether incidents, work related ill health or complaints should be investigated. To maintain a proportionate response and enable our resources to be targeted at the most significant events we have adopted Investigation Criteria, Appendix 1. These can be found in our Enforcement Policy and are available on our website www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk.

Last year saw an increase in the number of accidents reported and investigated in all categories over previous years.

Table 2 Number of injuries and investigations 1/4/2003 to 31/3/2004 Severity of Injuries reportable under RIDDOR Non reportable injuries injury Status of injured person Employed Public Total Employed Public Fatal 0 0 0 injuries Non- fatal 66 43 109 injuries Totals 66 43 109 9 35 Of which 53 32 85 8 investigated

Last year we investigated 93 accidents to employees and members of the public. Two significant investigations into major accidents required considerable officer time. We investigated one fatality however our investigations found this did not arise from a work activity.

Last year we received 690 requests for our health and safety service and responded to the 683 that met our investigation criteria.

We will maintain a capacity to react to and investigate a sample of work place accidents and complaints about workplace accidents. Significant incidents can result in considerable staff resources being diverted from our routine inspection programme, affecting the delivery of other elements of the service.

Staffing, training and competency

We recently established a dedicated team of 6 Health and Safety Inspectors (4.44 FTEs). Food Safety Inspectors are authorised to undertake hazard spotting in food premises. Details of how to contact the inspector for your area are at the end of this Service Plan. All our Health and Safety Inspectors are authorised in accordance with their competency and hold, or are working toward, qualifications for health and safety practitioners. Senior Inspectors are expected to be Members of the Institute of Safety and Health and to have been awarded the NVQ Level 5 for Regulators of Health and Safety. The Health and Safety Manager is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, a Member of the Institute of Safety and Health, a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, holds the NVQ for Regulators of Health and Safety; and is an NVQ assessor.

Training needs are identified through our appraisal process and regular training sessions are undertaken by officers to ensure they are familiar with the requirements of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and other enforcement issues.

To ensure key skills are developed and maintained through ongoing internal and external training, Inspectors are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours Continuing Professional Development per annum.

If you are interested in a career in environmental health or health and safety please contact Mrs Linda Pickerill, details of how are at the end of this Service Plan.

Complaints about the service

The Council has a corporate policy on the investigation of complaints about our staff and the services provided. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with any aspect of the health and safety service, then in the first instance contact Mrs Linda Pickerill Health and Safety Manager or Ian Tucker Head of Environmental Health Services details are at the end of plan. If you remain unhappy a corporate complaints system is available, forms are available from Help Shops or on request.

Key projects 2003 - 5

i) Inspection activity

 The first job for the newly created health and safety team was to tackle the backlog of inspections that had built up. We have now inspected all the premises which were overdue for an inspection while maintaining our routine inspection programme.

 Through Front Line Initiative Funding a temporary Workplace Contact Officer has been working with the businesses which had not been included in our inspection programme to assess the risks in their business and include them on our database. This work is now complete and enables us to identify the higher risk businesses which need to be included in our inspection programme. ii) Performance measurement and management

 To ensure our health and safety service is meeting mandatory requirements and consistency with other local authorities, we took part in an Inter Authority Audit of the 11 Surrey authorities enabling us to identify and share good practice. The audit found the service was meeting the mandatory requirements in 4 of the 5 areas covered by the audit. The work the Workplace Contact Officer was undertaking was not complete at the time of the audit resulting in the audit finding mandatory requirements were being frequently meet in respect of the management of our work programme. We have developed an action plan to enable us to focus on improvements to meet the mandatory standards and develop best practice. A copy of the final report will be sent to the Local Authority Unit of the HSE along with the action plan for improvements. The next audit is planned for 2008/9 in accordance with national requirements.

 Monthly performance monitoring is undertaken to ensure we are maintaining our inspection programme.

 The Service was subject to a Best Value Review in 2003. As a result an improvement plan has been developed and many of the actions have been implemented. iii) Working with business

 A quarterly Health and Safety newsletter has been developed and sent out to all businesses to advise of legal requirements and good practice with an emphasis on helping businesses to comply with complex health and safety legislation. Special features have included: . Legionella . Asbestos . Add more here

In (month ) 2004 we asked dutyholders what they thought about the newsletter their response was – detail here.

 Last year we focused on the dangers of asbestos as our theme for European Week of Health and Safety. Working with Surrey Trading Standards and local builders merchants to raise awareness with local residents and builders of the dangers of asbestos. Two local radio stations featured our work and our efforts were recognised by a regional award from the HSE.

 This year the theme for European Week of Health and Safety was construction. As part of our trial of topic based inspections we undertook inspections based on the theme of falls from a height. Inspectors looked at areas such as arrangements for window cleaning, ladders and working platforms, mezzanine floors in warehouses and roof working; particularly were there are fragile roofs such as glass or asbestos. The approach received very positive feedback from business.

 Unfortunately there are unscrupulous operators looking to defraud businesses through health and safety scams. Last year a number of scams targeted local businesses. In response we issued a press release and placed an article in our newsletter to raise awareness of this practice. Surrey Trading Standards were advised of the practice and took steps to follow up the scam.

 Last year we developed a health and safety handbook, paid for by advertising and distributed to all local businesses. The handbook provides dutyholders with a framework to develop their arrangements for health and safety.

 This year as part of our commitment to the e government initiative we have developed our website to enable business to access health and safety advice and guidance with links to other helpful websites. Our hsadvice line is available to dutyholders and employees for confidential advice and guidance on health and safety concerns; [email protected]

 In response to the demands of business and in recognition of our own commitment to helping business to meet legal requirements, we established a series of 8 health and safety courses. The courses were provided at the Town Hall by our Health and Safety Inspectors and lead to nationally recognised qualifications, certificated by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. 60 certificates were issued to employees and proprietors of local businesses. The training was based on key health and safety areas and enables businesses to develop effective arrangements for the health and safety of their employees and others.

. Foundation Certificate in Health and Safety . Risk Assessment . Manual Handling . Stress

 This year for the first time, we will involve service users in the development of the Service Plan. We will promote awareness through our December issue of the Health and Safety Newsletter, post a full copy on our website, making full copies of the text available on request. Local and national businesses, business groups, local health and safety professionals, including our own inspectors, union representatives and other users of the service will be directly approached and asked to comment on our proposals.

iv) Meeting mandatory requirements

 National requirements have been set to make sure that local authorities have adequate arrangements for the enforcement of health and safety in their area. We are currently working on getting these in place in time for the deadline of April 2004:

o Revised priority planning arrangements for routine inspections, Table 1. o Developing our systems to support; . Topic based inspections . Enforcement Management Model . Enforcement Policy o Development of the action plan arising from the Inter Authority Audit

Key projects for 2005/6 i) Inspection activity

 Undertake routine inspection programme in accordance with the frequencies in Table 1. The nature of the risk assessed approach to inspection means that the number of inspections due will vary depending on the risk score at the last inspection. Our current projection is that XX inspections are due in 2005/6.

 We will retain the ability to respond to accidents, reportable disease and service requests. ii) Performance measurement and management

. We will continue to monitor performance through monthly performance reviews and an annual review in the form of a Service Plan.

. We will develop arrangements to monitor enforcement decisions against our enforcement policy and national guidelines e.g. Enforcement Management Model. iii) Working with business and intermediaries

A number of national reviews are currently being undertaken, both the Hampton Review (2004) and the Review of the Relationship between the HSE and Local Authorities (2004) are indicating a sea change in the way that we work. Policy changes at a national level are already directing our resources to the highest risk premises, Table 1, directing local authorities to provide a more advisory and supportive role. The introduction of Local Authorities and HSE Working Together Strategic Programme and Statement of Intent (2004) will involve us in developing effective partnerships with the HSE and changes to the areas where we are responsible for enforcement.

The way ahead is likely to involve us in working with partners and intermediaries to improve community health and safety. With routine inspections targeted to those areas where we can do the most good. Against this background we need to look at the effectiveness of our service and review the way we provide that service.

As part of our commitment to this change we will:

. Work with local employer and trade groups to provide an advisory role to business and develop user-friendly information and advise.

. Promote, facilitate and offer training courses to dutyholders, working in partnership with training organisations such as the Suzy Lamplaugh Trust to provide the training that local businesses need. . Approach local health and safety professionals with a view to establishing a forum to identify, develop and share good practice with small and medium enterprises.

. Work in partnership with employee representatives to promote healthier working environments.

. Work with Trading Standards, Surrey Fire Service, Food Safety Services to promote a joint approach to regulatory requirements in the hotel industry.

. Develop partnerships with intermediaries e.g. the HSE, Community Safety, NHS Trusts and Health Education professionals to improve the standards of health and safety in the community.

. Seek the views of dutyholders on our performance.

. Focus on the problem of noise at work for our European Week of Health and Safety campaign in 2005 iv) Meeting mandatory requirements

The changes set out in this plan in relation to our inspection programme and working in partnership with intermediaries and others are; or expected to become, mandatory during the life of this service plan.

Changes bought about by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which comes into force in January 2005, are likely to have a significant effect on the release of details of investigations we have undertaken into accidents and notifiable diseases such as tendonitis.

Useful contacts

Head of Environmental Health Services, Ian Tucker, 01737 276440, [email protected]

Health and Safety Manager, Linda Pickerill, 01737 276410, linda.pickerill@reigate- banstead.gov.uk

Health and Safety Officers

North Area: Michael Blackburn, 01737 276142, [email protected]

Reigate and Salfords: Alf Bourne 01737 276427, [email protected] Horley: Mrs Tracey Hobson 01737 276117, [email protected]

Redhill: Currently vacant

Tyre & Exhaust/Golf Courses: Mrs Pamela Howard, 01737 276419 [email protected]

The HSE or the Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS) Phoenix House, Cantelupe Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 3BE

01342 334200.

RIDDOR The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995: For further details or to report an accident at work visit www.riddor.gov.uk or email:[email protected] or fax 0845 3009924.

This document has been produced by:

Health and Safety Team Environmental Health Services Town Hall Castlefield Road Reigate Surrey RH1 6JS

01737 276420 [email protected]

Useful websites: www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk www.hse.gov.uk