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.

Apologies for absence were received from Nigel Dulieu, Phil Clifford and John Smithson.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2016 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held 22 June 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report   HSP/JT/16/009

In a response to a request made by Members, the Health and Safety Manager expanded on minute 3.4 relating to his involvement in the Home of Horseracing Project. He stated that for 6 – 7 months he had been heavily involved in ensuring adequate health and safety measures were put in place at the new National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art prior to the lease being signed off.

The Joint Panel received and noted Report No: HSP/JT/16/009 (previously circulated) which incorporated the minutes of the Joint Health and Safety Meeting held 6 September 2016.

Report      HSP/JT/16/010

The Joint Panel received and noted Report No: HSP/JT/16/010 (previously circulated) which provided statistics relating to accidents/incidents involving Forest Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council employees and members of the public from 1 April 2016 to 31 August 2016. The Health and Safety Manager drew relevant issues to the attention of the Joint Panel, providing details of the types and locations of accidents/incidents of employees and members of the public during the reporting period.

The current statistics for both employee and members of the public accidents/incidents were compared with those of the last three financial years, as provided in a presentation. The statistics showed that the number of public incidents that had been recorded this year had increased from previous years. The Health and Safety Manager explained that this was likely due to some services reporting more public incidents than they had previously.

There were no significant trends indicated by the comparative data of employee accidents/incidents; however the number of employee incidents reported peaked in August 2016.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report.

The Joint Panel received and noted draft copies of the Christmas Fayre Safety Plan, which were distributed to Members during the discussion of this item.

The Health and Safety Manager outlined the General Arrangements for the Christmas Fayre which covered:

• Objectives, Roles and Responsibilities
• Risk Assessments
• Accidents/ Near Misses/ Violence at Work reporting
• Security/ Stewards
• Serious Incidents/ Bomb Threat/ Act of Terrorism
• Evacuation and zone closure procedures
• First Aid
• Fire Safety
• Crowd Management
• Road Closures

The Health and Safety Manager responded to Members questions stating that additional CCTV had been deployed in areas where our normal CCTV did not have coverage. Extra toilets would be put in place in the ARC to accommodate the high number of public expected to be in that area.

All Members agreed that a significant amount of hard work from officers went into organising the Christmas Fayre and would like to convey their thanks to all involved.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report.

The Health and Safety Manager gave a verbal update explaining that after a visit from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at Haverhill depot, there had been a focus to ensure an improved induction programme for all staff and contractors who worked at the depots was in place. The Health and Safety Manager briefly outlined the new induction programmes which had been produced by the Compliance Officer.

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report.

The Health and Safety Manager reported verbally on an upcoming Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) course that was being run for managers and senior members of staff on 1 and 2 February 2017 and the 8 and 9 February 2017.

Nine staff had attended the previous IOSH course and each had passed. 

Health and Safety Manager to give an oral report.

The Health and Safety Manager gave a verbal update on recent Health and Safety cases where sanctions in respect of Health and Safety offences had become more severe with prison sentences and substantial fines being imposed.

The Panel has previously agreed the date and venue of its next meeting as 20 February 2017 at 4.00pm at Forest Heath District Council Offices.

20 February 2017 – The Health and Safety Manager would investigate whether this meeting could be held at the recently opened National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art.

The Health and Safety Manager advised the Joint Panel that this was the last meeting of one of the staff representatives, David Cowley. Members gave thanks to his contributions to the operation of the Joint Panel.