Health and safety developments

Report: 10
Date: 17 May 2001
By: Commissioner

Summary

The report provides a summary of the progress and proposed actions in respect of Health and Safety within the MPS following the tragic death of PC Kilwant Sidhu on 25 October 1999.

A. Recommendation

Members are asked to note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

1. On Monday 25 October 1999, Police Constable Kulwant Sidhu died on duty while pursuing two burglary suspects across the roof of a commercial premises in Twickenham. As a result of this incident, aside from the criminal investigation carried out by South West Area Major Incident Pool, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an independent 'work related death/industrial accident investigation'.

2. The MPS still awaits a decision as to whether a prosecution will result from that investigation. However, six draft Improvement notices are in existence for service on the MPS, with recommended timescales of between three and six months.

3. In view of the serious concerns being raised by the HSE, Commander Alan Shave led a major review of health and safety that resulted in 17 recommendations. These were presented to Management Board on 19 March 2001 and were accepted for implementation (Appendix 1).

4. In January 2001, MPS Internal Audit contracted Pricewaterhouse Coopers to carry out an audit focusing on health and safety management within the MPS. Their final report is due in May, although an early draft indicates significant areas for improvement which are largely mirrored by the draft HSE Improvement Notices.

5. The recommendations within Appendix 1 will be important drivers for the change of culture necessary to proactively implement health and safety in the MPS, linked to the operational imperative. These must be read in conjunction with 'Successful Health and Safety Management' HSG 65 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, in particular Regulation 5.

6. Health and Safety Branch (OH.5), within Occupational Health, will be responsible for the implementation of the recommendations and improvement notices. This branch has been expanded in order to meet these demands. Chief Superintendent Wade, formerly Borough Commander at Wandsworth, now heads the branch bringing to it the key operational vision in the area where the MPS is most vulnerable. A sergeant will be attached to the branch reviewing risk assessments for a twelve month period. The Health and Safety Advisors have been increased from three to five to provide expert advice to either their individual Territorial Policing (TP) clusters or Specialist Operations and other business groups. A recruit will be an executive officer with responsibility for data collection, analysis and implementing learning from incidents for fast time dissemination throughout the MPS. This is a key area within one of the improvement notices. This post has been advertised for a response by 11 May 2001.

7. The MPS is at its most vulnerable in the operational environment of London's streets. Therefore, to address this OH.5 will be initially concentrating on addressing the high-risk areas. This will cover the 32 Boroughs, Heathrow and some Specialist Operations branches such as Trident. Key to this will be the development of a management structure that has responsibility for the implementation of the Commissioner's Health and Safety Policy. Radically this will place health and safety, at Borough and OCU level, under the management of the Superintendent Operations. This ensures senior management team ownership and status. Borough Commanders and Heads of Department will retain accountability for the policy. OH.5, having developed a role and responsibility framework, will be visiting sites and spending half a day with the various senior management teams ensuring that they understand their roles and responsibilities. In addition, whilst on site an inspection of their current status in terms of health and safety will be carried out and a benchmark report provided for the Borough Commander/Head of Department as to areas for improvement. Collation of good practice for MPS dissemination will also feature in this process.

8. Aligned to the above will be a half-day training input for Management Board through to Borough Commanders and Heads of Department (all those listed in Special Notice 2/01) covering their responsibilities as senior executives under health and safety legislation. The emphasis of the role of Directors and Senior Managers in health and safety management is included within the draft Improvement Notices. This is arranged for the morning of 19 June 2001 at Lambeth Forensic HQ, to which members of the MPA will be invited.

9. The central Health and Safety Committee is currently undergoing transformation into a key strategic committee, chaired by AC Personnel. The chair, as a member of Management Board, will ensure that collective responsibility and acknowledgement of the importance of the subject is maintained. Membership of this committee will cover staff associations, as required by legislation, and importantly encompass managers who can return to their departments and make actions happen. The format is similar to that experienced in boroughs within Partnership Strategy Boards. OH.5 will be the operational support to the committee, with responsibility to carry out actions and generate short-term problem solving groups on identified topics.

10. Part of the work carried out by Commander Shave was a review of the health and safety content of training courses. At the same time the Training Liaison Team (P.10) carried out a performance needs analysis of health and safety issues within the MPS. Their report produced in January 2001 makes 25 recommendations. Training will be the subject of significant discussions with Commander Loughborough, Director of Training and Development, as to the most appropriate means of delivery, plus meeting the significant demand in terms of numbers to be covered. Training is the subject of two draft Improvement Notices that require Health and Safety to be integral to all training activity.

11. The above outlines the key areas of work for the next twelve months.

C. Financial implications

At the present time, £2.3 million has been set aside for Health and Safety training, identified in the draft Improvement Notices.

D. Background papers

None.

E. Contact details

The author of this report is Brian Wade Chief Superintendent, MPS Health and Safety Branch.

For information contact:

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

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