Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Frank Warby and Lance Alexander.

Any Member who is substituting for another Member should so indicate together with the name of the relevant absent Member.

No substitutions were declared.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2014 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2014, were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report No:  HSP/JT/15/001

The Joint Panel received and noted Report HSP/JT/15/001, which incorporated the minutes of the Joint Health and Safety Group meeting held on 20 January 2015.

Report No:  HSP/JT/15/002

The Joint Panel considered Report HSP/JT/15/002, which contained amendments to reflect the new structure (reference to Head of Property and Waste Services changed to Head of Operations) to Issue 3 of the Joint Health and Safety Policy as set out in Appendix A to D to the report:

Appendix A – Instruction 4 (Fire Safety Arrangements)

Appendix B – Instruction 28 (Asbestos)

Appendix C – Instruction 29 (Construction Design Management)

Appendix D – Instruction 30 (Legionella Bacteria)

Current legislation required the organisation to have a health and safety policy, which was periodically reviewed for suitability.  There was also a legal requirement for employees to co-operate with their employer so far as was necessary to enable the employer to comply with his duties under the legislation, which included the compliance of the policy.

The Panel considered the report and with the vote being unanimous, it was

RESOLVED:

That the amendments to Issue 3 of the Joint Health and Safety Policy, as contained in Appendix A to D of Report HSP/JT/15/002, be approved.

Report No:  HSP/JT/15/003

The Joint Panel received and noted Report HSP/JT/15/003, which provided statistics relating to accidents/incidents involving employees and members of the public from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2014 for both Forest Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council. 

The Health and Safety Manager drew relevant issues to the attention of the Joint Panel, including providing details on the type and location of incidents/accidents experienced by employees and members of the public during the reporting period.  The quarterly update also included, were available, comparative data for the previous two years financial years. 

The Joint Panel considered the report and asked a number of questions to which comprehensive responses were provided.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager debriefed the Joint Panel on the Christmas Fayre event held between 27 and 30 November 2014.  The Fayre attracted over 120,000 people over the three-half days.  Over 300 stallholders were spread over different venues around the town, including Angel Hill; Abbey Gardens; Athenaeum; Apex; Hatter Street; Cathedral; Moyse’s Hall; Charter Square and the Cornhill/Butter Market.

The Fayre was a well-planned event with an organising group made up of all areas of the community, chaired by the Market Development Officer who was the Event Manager.  A review would be carried out to highlight health and safety aspects of the Fayre and make recommendations to ensure future events continued to be safe.

The Health and Safety Manager then provided a summary of the events held in each of the zones, including stewards; car parks; park and ride; police support; security; infrastructure; electrical supply; trip hazards; traffic management plan and first aid (St John’s Ambulance).

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager reported that as from 8 June 2015, the photocard licence (paper counterpart) would no longer be issued by the DVLA. The DVLA was developing new digital enquiry services, to be launched later in the year, which would allow organisations and businesses (such as employers and car hire companies) to view information they could currently see on the driving license counterpart.  Driving licence information via these services would only be made available to those who had a right to see it and with the knowledge of the driving licence holder.

Finally, on the lead up to Christmas the Council undertook a number of random breathalyser tests to support the National Drink Drive Campaign.  The Health and Safety Manager was pleased to report that out of the operational drivers and office based staff tested, no levels of alcohol were found.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report.

The Health and Safety Manager reported on the following training events:

(i)       An IOSH Managing Safely Course had been arranged for 27-28 April 2015 and 11-12 May 2015; and

(ii)         The on-line health and safety training modules on the Intranet had been re-launched.  The on-line training now included the following modules:

·         General Health, Safety and Environment Awareness

·         Stress Management Awareness

·         Driving for Work Awareness

·         Display Screen Equipment Training

·         Display Screen Equipment Risk Assessment

·         Manual Handling Training

·         Fire Training

The training had been rolled out across West Suffolk and ARP with 74% of staff having completed the courses.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report.

The Health and Safety Manager reported that a public defibrillator was about to be installed at West Suffolk House, Bury St Edmunds.  Training would be provided to custodians and volunteer first aiders on its use.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager reported as follows:

(i)       New Approved Codes of Practice were issued during September, November and December 2014 on:

·      Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)

·      Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)

·      Confined Spaces Regulations 1997

·      Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998

(ii)      The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had published the draft Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM) 2015, which would come into force on 6 April 2015.

(iii)    Health and Safety fines would increase drastically under tougher guidelines.  The Sentencing Council announced that the review of guidelines was taking place in part due to concerns that some sentences imposed for these offences had been too low, particularly in relation to large organisations convicted of the most serious health and safety and food safety offences.

(iv)    Launched in October 2010, the “three-year intervention with local authority waste and recycling services” initiative sought to assess the role of local authorities when procuring and managing municipal waste and recycling contracts, or delivering in-house waste and recycling services.  14% of local authorities were found to be non-compliant in relation to managing and procuring waste services; and 59 enforcement notices had been issued.  The HSE now intended to repeat the three-year programme of inspection interventions in 2015/16.

The Panel has already approved Monday 15 June 2015 at 2.00pm at West Suffolk House as the date, time and venue of its next meeting

The Joint Panel had previously agreed the following date for its future meeting:

Monday 15 June 2015, at 2.00pm at West Suffolk House.