Health and Safety Performance Report

Report: 12
Date: 10 December 2009
By: Director of Human Resources and Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides an overview of Health & Safety Performance including a comparison of injuries reported on the Metropolitan Police Accident and Incident Reporting System (MetAIR) between October 2007 and October 2008

A. Recommendation

That the report be received.

B. Supporting information

This is a general health and safety performance update.

Summary of Injuries Reported on the Metropolitan Police Accident and Incident Reporting System (MetAIR)

1. A summary of the injuries reported on the Metropolitan Police Accident and Incident Reporting System (MetAIR) between October 2007 - September 2008 and October 2008 - September 2009, is shown at Appendix 1. In summary comparing these two reference periods indicates that the:

• total accident rate fell by 16%;
• major accident rate fell by 20%;
• over three day accident rate fell by 26 %;
• slip, trip and fall accident rate fell by 21%;
• moving vehicle accident rate fell by 20%;
• injuries to police officers following assault rate fell by 24%;
• injuries to PCSOs following assault rate fell by 10%.

2. The annual rolling average for the total number of injuries in still in decline.

Major and over three day injuries

3. A summary of the major injuries reported on MetAIR between October 2007 - September 2008 and October 2008 - September 2009 is shown at Appendix 2.

4. Overall numbers of major injuries continue to fluctuate at a level lower than the preceding 12 months. The period July 2009 to September 2009 shows a marked fall when compared to the corresponding period July 2008 to September 2008 (28 major injuries compared to 44 major injuries).

Major accident total July 2009 – September 2009

28

July 2009

9

August 2009

7

September 2009

12

5. Of the 28 major injuries recorded on MetAIR between July and September 2009:

• 36% were physically assaulted;
• 28.5% slipped tripped or fell (inc from height);
• 28.5% were classified as ‘another kind of accident’;
• 3.5% were hit by a moving flying/falling object;
• 3.5% were injured by an animal;
• training accidents accounted for 25% of the major injuries.

6. A summary of the over three day injuries reported on MetAIR between August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009 is shown at Appendix 3.

7. There was a decrease in the number of reported over three day injuries from 83 in July 2009 to 64 in September 2009, as demonstrated in the table below. The annual rolling average for the year is still decreasing significantly and the figures represent a significant decrease on the same period last year (July 2008 – 111 injuries; August 2008 – 86 injuries September 2008 - 94 injuries).

Over 3 day accident total July 2009 – September 2009

220

July 2009

83

August 2009

73

September 2009

64

• Of the 220 over 3 day injuries recorded:
  • 28% were as a result of being hit by a moving vehicle;
  • 21% were as a result of what is classed as ‘another kind of accident’;
  • 18% from being physically assaulted;
  • 16% were as a result of slips, trips and falls;
• The remainder of 17% had a wide range of causations with no obvious trends.

Injury Following Physical Assaults on Police Officers and PCSOs

8. A summary of the injuries following assault reported on MetAIR between October 2007 - September 2008 and October 2008 - September 2009 is shown at Appendices 4 and 5.

9. There were 556 injuries following assaults recorded on MetAIR between July 2009 and September 2009, of which:

• 510 were to police officers;
• 46 were to PCSOs.

A monthly breakdown for July - September is shown in the tables below:

Injury to Police officers following assault total July 2009 – September 2009

510

July 2009

165

August 2009

179

September 2009

166

Injury to PCSOs following assaults total July 2009 – September 2009

46

July 2009

15

August 2009

13

September 2009

18

10. The total number of injuries following assault on police officers for July – September 2009 (510) shows a fall of 53 injuries when compared to the same three-month period last year (563). The breakdown of the assaults on police officers for the reporting period July to September 2009 is as follows:

• 2% major injuries;
• 8% over 3 day injuries;
• 90% minor injuries.

11. The number of PCSOs who reported injuries as a result of being assaulted has risen over the 3-month reporting period, giving a total of 46 for the three months. For the same period in 2008 the total figure was 38. The breakdown of the assaults on PCSOs for the reporting period July to September 2009 is as follows:

• 4% over 3 days injuries;
• 96% minor injuries.

12. The overall yearly figures for injuries following physical assaults show a fall in the rate of assaults on police officers and a gradual overall increase in assaults on PCSOs.

Slips, trips and falls (including falls from height)

13. A summary of the injuries following slip, trip and falls reported on MetAIR between August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009, is shown at Appendix 6.

14. There were 218 injuries as a result of slips, trips and falls between July and September 2009. This number is lower than the same period in 2008 (268), and the annual rolling average is showing a decrease.

Slips, trips and falls total July 2009 – September 2009

218

July 2009

69

August 2009

75

September 2009

74

15. Of the 218 slip, trips and falls:

• 3% were major injuries;
• 17% were over 3 day injuries;
• 80% were minor injuries.

Hit by a Moving Vehicle (including injury from RTAs)

16. A summary of the injuries following staff being hit by moving vehicles (including RTAs) reported on MetAIR between October 2007 - September 2008 and October 2008 - September 2009, is shown at Appendix 7.

17. There was a decrease in the number of injuries following being hit by a moving vehicle from 52 in July 2009 to 40 in September 2009. In the same period in 2008 there was a decrease (53 to 48). The annual rolling average for this type of accident is gradually decreasing.

Hit by moving vehicle total July 2009 – September 2009

134

July 2009

52

August 2009

42

September 2009

40

18. Of the 134 injured staff:

• 47 were as a result of Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) whilst traveling to and from work;
• the remaining 87 injuries were as a result of POLCOLs

Replacement of MetAIR Under Transforming HR

19. The replacement MetAIR system under the THR project is integral to the THR IT solution. Therefore the delay in THR go live will directly affect the delivery of the MetAIR replacement. There is no scope to bring forward the use of the new MetAir system prior to the revised THR go live; a date for which has yet to be formally determined.

Assault study working group

20. Following concern expressed by Management Board and MPA Corporate Governance Committee around the rate of assaults on police officers and staff, Safety and Health Risk Management Team commissioned a study to be carried out by the MPS Strategic Research Unit in collaboration with Officer Safety Unit, Federation and PCS Union. This was a survey of 3760 officers and PCSOs who had been assaulted between Jan 2007 and May 2008.

21. A huge range of issues was highlighted, going right across the board from training to sentencing of assailants. However, four main areas were identified for pragmatic intervention:

• Officer Safety Training, e.g. equipment, training methods, realism of training etc.
• Airwave issues including emergency call and coverage/capacity issues.
• The role of PCSOs in terms of their engagement and powers in law; and
• Occupational Health support both locally and centrally and whether this could be enhanced in relation to following up victims of assault.

An intervention at any of these points could make the difference in the numbers of officers and PCSOs that are seriously assaulted, or the after-effects suffered by those who are.

22. A working group of specialist practitioners was set up under the MPS Strategic H&S Committee to discuss the issues and identify both practical and aspirational ways in which the assault rate could be reduced. Assaults make up the single largest category of all injuries to staff so investment in this area would be valuable. The group has already identified several areas in which policy, procedures or tactics can be altered to effect improvements. There are also a number of areas which are already subject to review and improvement, particularly in relation to Airwave and Officer Safety Training.

23. The group is currently identifying which of the measures in their particular area would be both useful and practical to implement. These measures will be discussed at the next MPS Strategic H&S Committee on 3rd December, after which they will be scoped for future briefing to MPA Corporate Governance Committee.

First Aid Training Team Award

24. On 12 October the MPS First Aid Training Team received a regional training award from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for its emergency life support and first aid training for police officers.

25. The national training awards celebrate those who have achieved outstanding success through an investment in training and are organised on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The MPS won a regional award in the Greater London category amongst strong competition including Sainsbury's, Santander Group and BT. In the feedback from the award the judges made the following comments:

• ‘The fact that the MPS have trained such a large number of officers in such a short space of time is a huge achievement. This represents a major effort and a real contribution to the safety of London’s public;’
• ‘the nature and content of the training clearly has and will continue to have profound and beneficial effects on individual members of the public when used and several excellent commendations from the LAS and other organisations of the effective use of the training were produced;’
• ‘the impact of the training on staff was really impressive, officers clearly felt comfortable and confident.’

HSE High Level Statement – Striking the Balance between Operational and Health and Safety Duties in the Police

26 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched its ‘Striking the Balance’ statement with the support of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Association of Police Authorities (APA) on 7 October 2009 with the support of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS). It is hoped that this statement will go some way towards clarifying the legal duties on police forces when it comes to balancing the safety of officers and public against the policing imperative to protect life and property.

27. The aim of the statement is to:

• help police officers and staff as well as the public understand the practical application of health and safety law to the operational activities of the Police Service;
• ensure consistency in approach and decision making by HSE inspectors;
• promote a culture within the Police Service where risks are dealt with in a sensible, proportionate and thought-through manner;
• set out the expectations on the Police Service in relation to the management of those of their operations that are dangerous, fast moving and emotionally charged; and
• provide mechanisms for ensuring early and wide learning from incidents, new developments and research.

28. The MPA and MPS have actively supported and been directly involved in the development of this work and statement.

Association of police health and safety advisers (APHSA) conference

29. The SHRMT attended the annual APHSA conference in October. At the Conference:

• The Head of SHRMT was supported by the delegation for the appointment of Vice Chair of the Association;
• the Team Leader of SHRMT, with South Yorkshire Police, led an Operational Disaster Victim Identification Tabletop Exercise;
• the Senior Safety Advisor Training was recognised and awarded an Association Commendation for his work on driving national police training standards and support to the Association.

MPA Internal Audit of Health and Safety

30. The final MPA report was issued on 7 January 2009 and the Strategic Health and Safety Committee have taken responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the report recommendations. In total there are 20 recommendations to be implemented throughout the Service. Two of these are high risk, consisting of MetAIR Accident Reporting System and confirmation of risk assessment completion to the MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee. The remaining 18 recommendations are medium risk.

31. Internal Audit are currently undertaking a follow up audit. One high risk recommendation relating to MetAir remains outstanding. The majority of medium risk recommendations are now complete; this will be validated at the December MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee.

Safety and Health Risk Management Team Contact with the HSE

32. The HSE have requested that the SHRMT investigate an anonymous complaint from someone based at Harrow Police Station about a general lack of Workplace and DSE Assessments being carried out at the station.

33. SHRMT and CO19 (Firearms) met with the HSE on 3 November 2009 to discuss firearms instructor training and standards after the recent prosecution of Thames Valley Police following a shooting incident during training at Thames Valley.

Notting Hill Carnival

34. The SHRMT deployed and supported the Central Operations Planning Team (CO11) and Gold Commander to assess noise at the Notting Hill Carnival (NHC). The following is a summary of noise related concerns and actions taken:

• SHRMT deployed three noise monitoring teams on Sunday 30 and Monday 31 August. These teams consisted of SHRMT staff supplemented by a member of the Central First Aid Team appointed noise consultants and Federation. The teams conducted a range of noise monitoring and mapping within the NHC footprint. In addition the team provided safety support on a number of issues;
• three static noise monitoring stations were deployed on Monday 30 August to remotely monitor sound levels a key locations;
• a cohort of 30 officers were fitted with personal noise dosimeters. These officers will also receive a hearing test both pre and post carnival;
• moulded earpieces were issued to supervisors and those requiring communications as per previous Carnivals.
• ‘E.A.R.’ ‘Push ins’ earplugs were issued to all other officers/staff;
• a NHC noise information leaflet was issued to all officers/staff attending this year’s event.
• Gold stipulated that all officers/staff must wear their hearing protection whenever noise is sufficiently loud to interfere with ordinary conversation with someone no further than one metre away;
• initial analysis of the monitoring results indicate that the agreed noise standard with Notting Hill Carnival Limited for both static and mobile sound systems was exceeded on occasions during this event (i.e. the maximum peak sound pressure level of 135 decibels at three metres from the sound system/speakers was exceeded). These breaches were reported to the Event Liaison Team Enforcement Unit for appropriate action. Despite these noise breaches, there appeared to be a conscious effort by a number of floats and static sound systems to keep within permitted noise levels.

35. A full report of the results of the environmental noise mapping will be fed back into the Carnival Gold and the MPS Hearing Conservation Working Group as soon as these are available.

Swine flu

36. SHRMT and OH continue to support the MPS Pandemic Flu Gold Group and the MPS pandemic flu planning process. OH have issued a distribution plan for PPE and have a plan for the issue of antiviral medication should the MPS reach a critical level of absence requiring intervention to maintain attendance.

37. OH monitor the numbers absent from work with flu daily. Numbers have fallen steadily since late July and are now at around 170 per day (our high was 320 on 24.07.09). This figure is insignificant generally and impact to service levels is negligible.

Property Services Health and Safety performance: Summary of building related accidents and incidents reported to Property Services

38. Between July 2009 and September 2009 there were 11 property condition related accidents involving MPA/MPS staff reported on MetAir. None of these resulted in lost time or were RIDDOR reportable.

39. Between July and September 2009 there were 10 minor reported accidents involving employees of Property Services contractors. None of these resulted in lost time or RIDDOR reportable events. In the same period Property Services contractors reported 84 near miss incidents. The increase in the number of Near-Miss / Hazardous Situations reported is due to the contractors C.A.T.S (Changing Attitudes Towards Safety) reporting system which encourages employees to report any unsafe acts which could have resulted in accidents if the situation had been left uncontrolled. The data is analysed for trends and to determine where further health and safety training / procedures are required.

Halon Replacement

40. The Home Office Scientific Branch continues to project manage Halon replacement for all UK police forces. MPS are awaiting feedback from the Home Office following their discussions with DEFRA and the EU Commission relating to granting an extended exemption to continue use halon as a fire extinguishing medium.

Senior Designated Officer / Fire Training Process

41. Fire safety training courses have been implemented and will be an ongoing process fulfilling statutory requirements.

42. The content of the proposed role and training courses for the Senior Designated Officer (SDO) and Nominated Officer (NO) health and safety roles within MPA/MPS buildings is currently subject to consultation with Police Federation, Trades Unions and Superintendents Association. Following the successful completion of the consultation process Property Services Compliance team in conjunction with the SHRMT will seek approval from the MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee to proceed with this training

Access by Authorised Personnel – to high-risk areas

43. Procurement Services is assisting the Property Services Compliance Team in progressing this matter. Arrangements are being evaluated to enable a controlled access system to be installed in the short term so that only authorised personnel can gain access to restricted areas of the MPS estate e.g. confined spaces, plant rooms, boiler/electrical distribution rooms and roof areas.

Notifications to HSE and Enforcing Authorities

44. The Property Services Compliance Team has been in contact with the HSE regarding the following specific incidents:

• HSE have visited the cooling tower at NSY and examined the maintenance and control measures relating to legionella. To date all measures found to be of an acceptable standard and further HSE visits will take place on an ongoing basis;
• The procedure for releasing trapped persons from lifts within ESB requested by HSE has been provided.

Asbestos Surveying on the MPS Estate

45. Due to a problem with the award of the original contract, the current survey programme has been suspended. Interim measures have been put in place to minimize our risk of non-compliance whilst urgent action is undertaken to re-establish compliant contract arrangements.

Trapped Passenger Lift Procedures

46. London Fire Brigade has issued a statement relating to responding to emergency calls to broken down lifts. LFB take the view that they are sometimes called repeatedly to release people from the same buildings and that this is simply not acceptable. They state that lift owners need to make proper provisions for their lifts.

47. Property Services are reviewing lift safety procedures to ensure that the process currently in place is still adequate.

MPS Firing Ranges

48. Historically each of the firing ranges within the MPS estate has been subject to independent certification by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The MOD are now no longer prepared to undertake this certification process.

49. The National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) have prepared and issued a Handbook of Police Range Safety, which is the recognised document that UK police forces now need to comply with. This replaces the MOD certification process.

50. To comply with the above Property Services are urgently arranging to obtain statutory certification and place a contract to undertake the F1057 certification of 14 firing ranges across the MPS estate.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no immediate implications on equality and diversity arising from this report. The team will monitor all health and safety matters, including MetAIR statistics, to determine whether there is any disproportionate impact on any particular group, and, where there is, take appropriate action.

D. Financial implications

1. To date trails for halon replacement extinguishers have indicated that there will be additional costs and changes to operational procedures. The exact costs are unknown at this time.

2. The cost implications for the provision of the approved mandatory training for SDOs and Nominated Persons are currently being assessed. Once determined, consideration will be given on how best to accommodate these costs within the overall resources available to the Service.

3. A reserve of £200k has been set up for the installation of an access control system to high-risk areas within the MPS estate. This reserve is part of the £800k “Property - Statutory Energy Performance” allocation which was approved as part of the 2007/08 year-end reserve process.

4. Following confirmation that this functionality cannot quickly be incorporated in the DOI ‘IAMS’ project, the original bespoke alternative will be progressed from this fund.

5. The costs associated with the activities set out in this report are covered by budgets held in PSD and across the MPS.

E. Legal implications

The information in this report assists the Authority in the performance of its duties under Health and Safety legislation and of its strategic oversight role as set out in the joint MPA/MPS Corporate Health and Safety Policy.

F. Background papers

• None

G. Contact details

Report author: Nick Kettle, Head of Safety and Health Risk Management and Peter Brown, Assistant Director – Head of Compliance, Property Services

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Abbreviations, acronyms and definitions:

• MetAIR - Metropolitan Police Accident and Incident Reporting System
• (The MetAIR system provides a means for reporting and collecting MPS accident data including that required to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive)
• HSE – Health and Safety Executive;
• SHRMT - Safety and Health Risk Management Team;
• OH - Occupational Health
• PPE - Personal Protective Equipment
• DEFRA – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
• CATS- Changing Attitudes Towards Safety;
• IAMS – Integrated Access Management System;
• CO – Central Operations
• RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995;
• SDO – Senior Designated Officer.
• NO - Nominated Officers

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