Agenda and minutes

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

No substitutions were declared.

The approved Terms of Reference for the West Suffolk Joint Health and Safety Panel requires that if the Chairman is a representative of the Employers’ Side the Vice-Chairman should  be a representative of the Employees’ Side and vice-versa. The Panel is requested to ELECT a Chairman and APPOINT a Vice-Chairman in accordance with this arrangement.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Frank Warby be elected Chairman in absentia.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED :

         That Mr. Nigel Dulieu be appointed Vice-Chairman

(At this point in the meeting the Vice-Chairman took the chair)

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Frank Warby.

The Panel’s Terms of Reference were approved by the Cabinets of St Edmundsbury Borough Council  on 28 March  2012 and Forest Heath District Council on 29 May 2012. Amendments were made in May 2014. The Panel is requested to REVIEW its Terms of Reference and make any recommendations to respective Cabinets if considered appropriate.

Report No :  HSP/JT/15/004

The Joint Panel considered its Terms of Reference (Report No. HSP/JT/15/004).Councillor Cockle sought clarification about the arrangements for electing a Chairman and Vice-Chairman contained in Paragraph 2.4.  It was agreed to make the arrangements explicit that the following be inserted to replace the existing paragraph 2.4.  “The Panel shall appoint a Chairman from the Employers’ Side and a Vice-Chairman from the Employees’ Side” and that authority be sought for this minor change to be made.

RECOMMENDED:

That authority be sought for the following amendment to be made to the Panel’s Terms of Reference – the deletion of paragraph 2.4 and the substitution therefor of “The Panel shall appoint a Chairman from the Employers’ Side and a Vice-Chairman from the Employees’ side.”

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 February 2015 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held 28 January 2015 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report No: HSP/JT/15/005

The Joint Panel received and noted Report No. HSP/JT/15/005 which incorporated the minutes of the Joint Health and Safety Group meeting held on 12 May 2015.

Report No : HSP/JT/15/006

The Joint Panel received and noted Report No. HSP/JT/15/006 which provided statistics relating to accidents/incidents involving employees and members of the public from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 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 accidents/incidents experienced by employees and members of the public during the reporting period.  The annual update also included comparative data for the two previous financial years.  There were no significant trends or marked variations indicated by this comparative information.

The Health and Safety Manager reported on measures which were shortly to be put in place at the Parkway multi-storey car park in Bury St Edmunds following the fatal falls in 2014.

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

Report No :  HSP/JT/15/007

The Joint Panel considered Report HSP/JT/15/007 which contained amendments to the Health and Safety Policy as a consequence of recently issued Government Regulations.  Current legislation required the organisation to have a health and safety policy, which was reviewed periodically for suitability.  There was also a legal duty 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 amendments related to parts of Issue 3 of the Health and Safety Policy and were indicated in the appendices to the report as follows:

(i)      Amendment 007 – Index  Page;

(ii)     Amendment 008 – Instruction 29 – Construction Design Management;

(iii)    Amendment 009 – Annex C – Violence at Work; and

(iv)    Amendment 010 – Annex K – Fire Risk Assessment Form.

The Joint Panel considered the report and the Health and Safety Manager responded in relation to Members’ detailed questions about precautions taken to safeguard staff in situations of potential violence or verbal abuse.

RESOLVED:

That the amendments to Issue 3 of the Joint Health and Safety Policy, as contained in Appendices A to D of Report HSP/JT/15/007, be approved.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager gave a verbal report on this legal case. Mr Bailes was a driver with a bus company who had been dismissed from his employment following a drugs test which had shown positive.  He had subsequently commissioned another form of test which had proved to be negative and shown that the traces of illegal substance had been acquired by him indirectly.  Mr Bailes, as a consequence, had claimed unfair dismissal and had been awarded £84,000 as compensation.  The Health and Safety Manager outlined the testing method used by the Councils and concluded that this type of situation would not occur within the Councils.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager gave a verbal report and advised that a public Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) had been installed outside West Suffolk House to which anyone had access to.  Specific staff at West Suffolk House had been trained in its use.  In response to a member’s question he advised on the location of other defibrillators on or around Council premises.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager gave a verbal report and advised that 9 members of staff had recently undertaken a Health & Safety IOSH Managing Safely training course.  The results were awaited but it was anticipated that each of the participants would successfully meet the required standard set by the course.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report

The Health and Safety Manager gave verbal update reports as follows:

(a)     in the case of the runaway refuse collection vehicle which had caused fatalities in Glasgow during 2014 no criminal charges had yet been brought against the driver or the City Council.  A full inquiry would be held later this year which would examine a number of aspects relating to the incident;

(b)     the national Health and Statistics for 2013/2014 recently published had revealed that there had been 133 health and safety related fatalities during the year.  This was less than the figure of 150 for the previous year;

(c)     a refuse collection vehicle driver in Stirlingshire had been dismissed from his employment following a collision which had caused a fatality.  The driver was awaiting a court appearance although a criminal charge had not been made against the local authority;

(d)     an inflatable slide operator in Ripley had been convicted of a breach of Health and Safety legislation; and

(e)     Bristol City Council had had to pay £25,000 compensation to a Parks operative who had been injured after being thrown from a tractor when it overturned.  The tractor had not been installed with a roll bar.

The Panel has previously met on three occasions each municipal year.

Members are asked to APPROVE Monday 2 November at 4.00pm as the date and time of its next meeting.

The Joint Panel approved Monday 2 November 2015 at 4.00pm at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village as the date, time and venue for its next meeting.