Agenda and draft 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 Chairmanship of the Panel shall alternate between the Employer’s and Employees’ sides.  When the Chairman is a Member of one side of the Panel, the Vice-Chairman shall be a Member of the other side. 

In 2018/2019, a Chairman is required to be elected from the Employer’s Side.

The Panel is requested to ELECT a Chairman in accordance with this arrangement.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED – That FHDC Councillor Chris Barker be elected Chairman of the Panel for 2018/2019.

The approved Terms of Reference for the West Suffolk Joint Health and Safety Panel requires that Vice-Chairmanship of the Panel shall alternate between the Employer’s and Employees’ side.

As the Chairman of the Panel shall be from the Employer’s side, in 2018/2019, a Vice-Chairman is required to be appointed from the Employees’ side.

The Panel is requested to APPOINT a Vice-Chairman in accordance with this arrangement.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED – That Paul Goodspeed be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Panel for 2018/2019.

No apologies for absence were received, however, Councillors Peter Ridgwell and Frank Warby were unable to attend the meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2018 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report No: HSP/JT/18/005

The Panel received and noted Report No: HSP/JT/18/005, which incorporated the notes of the Joint Health and Safety Group meeting held on 15 October 2018.

Report No: HSP/JT/18/006

The Panel received and noted Report No: HSP/JT/18/006, 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 2018 to 31 August 2018.

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) drew relevant issues to the attention of the Panel, including providing details of the types and locations of accidents/incidents of employees and members of the public during the reporting period.  He then reported the amount of days lost due to workplace accidents/incidents and compared them with statistics from the past three years.

The Panel held a brief discussion and asked questions of the Service Manager to which comprehensive responses were provided, including that:

(a)     investigations would be undertaken to ascertain whether information could be extracted from the ticketing machine in relation to an incident that occurred in a Council owned car park.

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) will provide a verbal update on this item.

The Panel received and noted a verbal update on the following health and safety training courses and initiatives:

(a)     Fire extinguisher training was provided for approximately 22 people for front of house staff working in the Apex and the Athenaeum in Bury St Edmunds;

(b)     an Event Safety course was being provided on 6 November 2018, which was being funded and attended by Members of Newmarket Town Council;

(c)     a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course was being provided on 15-16 November 2018.  The Service Manager (Health and Safety) gave further details regarding what this entailed;

(d)     an IOSH Managing Safely course was being provided on 12, 13 and 14 February 2019; and

(e)     the intention to develop ‘Wellbeing Champions’ and Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) practitioners within the workplace.  The Assistant Director (HR, Legal and Democratic Services) gave further details on this, including how Members could potentially become involved. 

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) will provide a verbal update on this item.

The Panel received and noted a verbal update on progress with the health and safety software that was aimed to be launched by 1 April 2019. 

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) provided details on the current situation, including that the objective of the software was to reduce, with the view to eliminating where possible, the need for paper-based reporting. A site visit from the company providing the software was due shortly to confirm the Councils’ requirements and to build a trail database.

Report No: HSP/JT/18/007

The Panel received and noted Report No: HSP/JT/18/007 which presented the Event Safety Plan for the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre, which this year, was being held between 23 -26 November 2018.

The Panel noted the background to the Fayre, including that it was now in its fifteenth year and was presently undergoing a detailed review, with recommendations emanating from that review being presented to the Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the Shadow Executive, for implementation within next year’s Christmas Fayre.

The Service Manager provided details on the following topics:

·         General crowd management: how the area covering the Fayre had been divided into a total of 22 zones to assist with crowd management through the use of CCTV, zone leaders and stewards; and where additional coverage was required in particular zones. 

·         Audience profile: the days in which the Fayre was at its most and least busiest, and how visitor numbers were managed during these periods.

·         Crowd capacities: how crowd capacity was calculated within each zone, including that crowd dynamics and volumes were monitored by CCTV, zone leaders and stewards.

·         Abbeygate Street (Zone 7): how this zonepresented specific crowd management challenges, which could necessitate the implementation of a one-way system at peak periods to maintain crowd control.  The operation of this system was explained and illustrated to the Panel.

·         Abbey Gate (Zone 13): how this zonealso presented specific crowd management challenges, which due to its narrowness could also necessitate the implementation of a one-way system at peak periods to maintain crowd control through the use of a barrier maze system.  The operation of this system was explained and illustrated to the Panel.

·         Counter terrorism strategy: how the Council worked closely with the Suffolk Constabulary and the Police and Counter Terrorism Unit to develop a strategy for putting procedures into place in the event of an act of terrorism to reduce the risk as far as was reasonably practicable.  Mitigation measures were provided and illustrated.

The Panel noted the proposed Event Safety Plan with interest and commended the officers and partners involved for ensuring the safety of organisers and visitors remained paramount.

Restricted Report No: HSP/JT/18/008

The Panel received and noted Restricted Report No: HSP/JT/18/008, which provided the lockdown procedures for the Councils’ offices at West Suffolk House (WSH), Bury St Edmunds.

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) explained that these procedures had been implemented during a practice event held that morning at WSH.

An evaluation of the event would be undertaken and should any changes/improvements be required to WSH’s lockdown procedure, these would be reported to the Panel accordingly.

In response to a question, the Panel was informed that a lockdown procedure was already in place for the Forest Heath District Council offices in Mildenhall.

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) will provide a verbal update on this item.

The Service Manager (Health and Safety) gave a verbal report on recent cases relating to other organisations in the country that had received substantial penalties and fines for breaching Health and Safety regulations.