Health and safety performance report

Report: 4
Date: 8 December 2008
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

A comparison of injuries reported on the Metropolitan Police Accident and Incident Reporting System (MetAIR) between November 2006 - October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008 indicates:

• Total accident rate fell by 9%;
• major accident rate fell by 13%;
• over three day accident rate fell by 10%;
• slip, trip and fall accident rate fell by 7%;
• moving vehicle accident rate fell by 15%;
• injuries to police officers following assault rate fell by 2%;
• injuries to PCSOs following assault rate increased by 3%.

A. Recommendation

That members note the report.

B. Supporting information

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 November 2006 - October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008, is shown at appendix 1. In summary comparing these two reference periods indicates:

• Total accident rate fell by 9%;
• major accident rate fell by 13%;
• over three day accident rate fell by 10%;
• slip, trip and fall accident rate fell by 7%;
• moving vehicle accident rate fell by 15%;
• injuries to police officers following assault rate fell by 2%;
• injuries to PCSOs following assault rate increased by 3%.

2. October 2008 saw an increase in the total numbers of reports on the MetAIR system (602) compared to September 2008 (590) and August 2008 (601). Despite this slight rise there is still a continued, sustained reduction in total accident reports for the 12-month period. When compared to the same period in 2007 the figures show a significant drop in the number of reported accidents October 2007 (702), September 2007 (718) and August 2007 (693). The annual rolling average for 2007/08 is in decline, and is at a lower rate than for the year 2006/07.

Major and over three day injuries

3. A summary of the major injuries reported on MetAIR between November 2006 - October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008 is shown at appendix 2.

4. The number of major accidents recorded on MetAIR from August 2008 to October 2008, are shown in the table 1 below. September 2008 saw a slight reduction in the number of major accidents reported compared to August and October. The annual rolling average is showing a very slight increase across the 12 month period yet remains below the rate for the pervious reporting year.

Table 1: Major Accidents August – October 2008

5. Of the 49 Major accidents recorded on MetAIR between August 2008 and October 2008:

• 41% were classified as ‘another kind of accident’;
• 37% slipped tripped or fell (inc from height);
• 11% were physically assaulted;
• 8% were from manual handling;
• 2% were hit by a moving flying/falling object;
• 2% were exposed to or in contact with a harmful substance:
• the main types of injury sustained as a result of a major injury over this three month period are as follows:
  • 47% - injuries to the wrists, hands and arms;
  • 21% - injuries to the shoulder/collarbone;
  • 6% - injuries to the legs, ankles and feet;
  • 12% - injuries to the chest;
  • 2% - injuries to the face;
  • 2% - injuries to the spine (fractured coccyx);

6. Training accidents accounted for 30% of the major injuries for this period compared to 25% for the previous reporting period. Following concern raised at a previous MPA Corporate Governance Committee meeting regarding the number of major injury accidents sustained during training, this issue was discussed at the recent MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee. The Committee is liaising with the Central Operations Officer Safety Training Unit and it is proposed that a sub-working group will be formed to examine this issue. In addition, the SHRMT will be seeking funding to sponsor a review of training accidents recorded on MetAIR. However it is unlikely that this study will commence before the next financial year. The Corporate Governance Committee will be aware from previous debate that training related injuries are not captured under the MetAir system as a reporting category and as such the data relating to these injuries are contained with free text reporting fields and is therefore not readily available for extraction and analysis to identify causational factor. It is planned that this shortfall will be addressed in a new accident reporting system under the Transforming HR project.

7. A summary of the over three day injuries reported on MetAIR between November 2006 - October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008 is shown at appendix 3.

8. There was a decrease in the number of reported over three day injuries from 84 in August 2008 to 75 in October 2008, as demonstrated in the table 2 below. The annual rolling average for the year is still decreasing.

Table 2: Over three day accidents August-October 2008

• Of the 242 over 3 day injuries recorded:
  • 37% were as a result of what is classed as “another kind of accident”;
  • 21% were as a result of being hit by a moving vehicle;
  • 13% from being physically assaulted;
  • 13% were as a result of slips, trips and falls;
• the remainder of 16% had a wide range of causations with no obvious trends.

Injury following physical assaults on Police Officers and PCSOs

9. A summary of the injuries following assault reported on MetAIR between November 2006 – October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008 is shown at appendices 4 and 5.

10. There were 542 assaults recorded on MetAIR between August 2008 and October 2008, of which:

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

11. A monthly breakdown for August-October is shown in the tables 3 and 4 below:

Table 3: Police Office Injury Following Physical Assault August-October 2008

Table 4: PCSO Injury following physical assault August-October 2008

12. Overall injury following assaults against police officers has decreased from August 08 to October 08 (194 to 140).

13. There was a reduction in the injury following assault rate per thousand police officers of 2% over the two-year reporting period, which continues the downward trend in this accident category. A further breakdown of these injuries by accident classification indicates the following:

• major injuries decreased by 28%;
• over 3 day injuries decreased by 8%;
•  non-reportable injuries decreased by 1%.
  • the actual number of injuries following assault has decreased by 51 when comparing November 2006 – October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008;
  • there is little change, other than a slight reduction in both figures, in the number of injuries following assault by gender over the two year period (note this is a total figure and not expressed as a rate);
  • assault injury data are communicated to the Officer Safety Unit so they are able to review and improve their training as appropriate.

14. The number of PCSOs who reported injuries as a result of being assaulted has risen over the 3 month reporting period (table 4), giving a total of 46 for the three months. For the same period in 06/07 the total figure was 56, which shows there has been a decrease of 10 injuries over this quarter comparison.

15. The assault rate per thousand PCSOs has shown an increase of 3% over the two-year reporting period, although this is significantly down against the previous comparison made in the last MPA Corporate Governance Committee report in September 2008, which recorded a 41.3% increase. The actual increases in both this and the previous report were exclusively owing to an increase in non-reportable or minor injuries. A further breakdown of these injuries by accident classification indicates the following:

• major injuries decreased by 24%;
• over 3 day injuries decreased by 33%;
• non-reportable injuries increased by 9%.
  • the actual number of injuries following assault has increased by 5 when comparing November 2006 – October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008;
  • the proportion of male PCSOs to female PCSOs being assaulted has remained fairly consistent, although the figures for both genders have increased over the two year period (note this is a total figure and not expressed as a rate);
  • the injuries suffered are generally minor in nature, and there has been a decline in the rate of major and over 3 day injury following assault in this category;
  • assault injury data are communicated to the Officer Safety Unit so they are able to review and improve their training as appropriate. These are also communicated to the PCSO Programme Board for review of policy and standard operating procedures as appropriate.

Slips, Trips and Falls (including falls from height)

16. A summary of the injuries following slip, trip and falls reported on MetAIR between November 2006 - October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008, is shown at appendix 6.

17. There were 243 injuries as a result of slips, trips and falls between August 2008 and October 2008. This number is significantly lower than the same period in 2006/07 (297), and as a result the annual rolling average is decreasing significantly. A monthly breakdown for August-October is shown in the table 5 below:

Table 5: Slips, trips and falls August – October 2008

18. Further analysis of the Slips, trips and falls by accident category shows the following figures:

• majors increased by 10%
• over 3 days decreased by 16%
• minors fell by 4%

Hit by a moving vehicle (including injury from RTAs)

19. A summary of the injuries following staff being hit by moving vehicles (including RTAs) reported on MetAIR between November 2006 - October 2007 and November 2007 - October 2008, is shown at appendix 7.

20. There was an increase of 18 incidences of injury following being hit by a moving vehicle from 30 in August 2008 to 48 in October 2008; there was no obvious casual factor for this increase. In the same period in 2006/07 there was also an increase of similar proportions (48 to 67). The rate of injury has remained below one per thousand employees. The annual rolling average for this type of accident is still decreasing steadily and consistently.

Table 6: Hit by moving vehicle August – October 2008

Assault Study

21. A few months ago SHRMT, in conjunction with the Federation, PCS Union and Officer Safety Unit, asked the MPS Strategic Research Unit to undertake a survey of police officers and PCSOs who had been assaulted in the previous 18 months. The purpose of the survey was to try and find out some of the reasons why officers were being assaulted and whether any action could be taken to reduce the incidences. Out of the 3760 staff surveyed, 547 sent back questionnaire responses, of whom 22 were interviewed face to face. The draft report of the research findings has now been received by SHRMT. The final report will be available to MPA Members once it has been discussed with the MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee.

22. The survey questions were split broadly into categories relating to officer safety training, equipment and appointments, the activities immediately prior to the assault, and post-incident welfare. The draft report indicates a number of areas of interest, and also some unexpected findings, relating to training and psychological welfare, which will need to be looked at in more detail.

Contact with Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

23. On Friday 26 Sep 08 the Fulham Robbery Squad was patrolling SW6 and chanced upon a stolen BMW containing four males. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle it reversed at speed and the occupants decamped. The decamping males were chased. A Police Sergeant (PS) involved in that chase followed a suspect onto a relatively easy access roof area and fell through a fibre glass panel and crashed approx 20 feet through a polystyrene suspended ceiling. The incident happened in daylight, it is unlikely that the fibre glass panels were obvious, the roof held the weight of the suspect and the roof is likely to have given the appearance of solid construction. This was a fast spontaneous incident and officers responded to apprehend known criminals. The PS is now at home recuperating from a fractured pelvis and four compressed vertebrae of the spine. The MPS SHRMT is investigating this incident with the (B) OCU. The SHRMT have now issued an interim factual report to the HSE.

24. The HSE has requested an investigation report in relation to the electrical shock of officers dealing with a patient at Hillingdon Hospital. This incident is under investigation. No officers were seriously injured.

25. The HSE has released the latest draft high-level statement on balancing operational policing with the requirement to comply with health and safety legislation for wider consultation. This latest draft has been issued for wider consultation in the MPS via the Strategic Health and Safety Committee.

26. The MPS hosted a meeting with the HSE to discuss the requirement for health surveillance for CS spray. A Joint MPS SHRMT and Occupational Health team are working with the HSE on this issue.

HSE Annual Inspection Report

27. An HSE report summarising their recent inspection of constabularies in England and Wales is to be shortly released to all Chief Officers. The HSE have stated they will require a range of safety recommendations to be implemented and monitored by all forces. It is understood that progress and activity against a range of recommendations will need to be reported by Forces to the HSE on a six monthly basis. It is understood that the report will be focused on display screen equipment and manual handling.

ACPO Joint Advisory Group (JAG)

28. The Head of SHRMT represented the MPS at the annual ACPO Joint Advisory Group (JAG) Health and Safety Planning Forum held in Belfast on 8th October 2008. The aim of the forum was to define the ACPO health and safety plan and work streams for the next 3 years. The output from this forum will now be considered by the ACPO (JAG) Strategy Group. The MPA Corporate Governance Committee and Management Board will be advised of the output from the forum once the work plan has been published by the Strategy Group.

MPS Assurance Process

29. In December the SHRMT will be supporting Assistant Commissioner Central Operations/Director of Resources review relevant OCU Commanders and Heads of Department assurance letters prior to verification dip sampling in the New Year.

UK Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)

30. SHRMT has been working closely with ACPO UK DVI to establish a national safety framework and protocol for deployment of officers both nationally and internationally. Work is ongoing to review and enhance safety input into training and generic safe systems of work to inform short notice and hazardous deployments.

31. The SHRMT Operational Team Leader attended the UK DVI training programme at Dundee University in July, and the Head of SHRMT is due to attend in the next round of courses. This will enable both to deploy with UK DVI officers should the need arise and to assist and advise on scene hazard assessment, safe working practices and risk assessment either on site or remotely.

32. The output of this work will also to be used to support the development of the future MPS Advanced DVI course.

Notting Hill Carnival

33. The SHRMT deployed and supported the Central Operations Planning Team (CO11) and Gold Commander to assess noise levels at the Notting Hill Carnival (NHC). The following is a summary of noise exposure:

• The officers’ average daily personal noise exposure in 2008 was 94.5 decibels (dB)(A), compared with 95 dB(A) in 2007 and identical to the average of 94.5 dB(A) evaluated at the 2006 carnival. 2005 average results were lower at 92 dB(A). Therefore despite significant efforts the noise levels at NHC do not appear to have been reduced this year;
• In addition the monitoring results also 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 (the agreed standard was a maximum peak sound pressure level of 135 decibels at 3 meters from the sound system/speakers).

34. The full report of the results of the MPS environmental noise mapping has been fed back into the Carnival Gold.

35. Other SHRMT activity in brief:

• contributing as expert advisors at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) on 15 Oct 08;
• contributing as expert Safety advisor at Gold, Silver and Bronze levels at a recent multiple national CBRN DVI exercise hosted by the MPS;
• supporting the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) develop the UK CBRN Silver Commander Guide;
• presentation of MPS preparations for the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act to the Association of Police Health and Safety Advisor (APHSA) conference;
• presentation of MPS protocols for managing health and safety at major incidents; including the concept of the Joint Safety and Health Advisory Cell (JSHAC) to the Superintendents Association national conference and the London Emergency Services Liaison Panel (LESLP);
• provision of a one day dynamic risk assessment workshops for other UK police forces and law enforcement agencies on the training delivery of the MPS dynamic risk assessment training package;
• hosted a joint London safety forum with British Transport Police (BTP), City of London and Serious and Organised Crime (SOCA).

Abbreviations

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

OST

Officer Safety Training Unit

SHRMT

Safety and Health Risk Management Team

NHC

Notting Hill Carnival

CO11

Central Operations Planning Team

dB or decibel

The decibel is a logarithmic unit used to describe noise levels
dB(A) – decibel measured on the ‘A’ weighting scale and is a standard electronic filter designed to mimic the response of the ear to noise. Thus the ‘A’ weighted decibel provides a good estimate of how damaging a particular noise is likely to be

Peak Sound Pressure Level

maximum decibel level during a measurement period

LESLP

London Emergency Services Liaison Panel

BTP

British Transport Police

SOCA

Serious and Organised Crime

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

There are no immediate financial implications from this report. Although there are no direct financial implications the increasing burden of extracting and analysing data to answer specific accident data questions is placing a heavy workload on the MetAir system and analyst. This reinforces the need for greater investment in the MetAir system.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Nick Kettle, Head of Safety and Health Risk Management, MPS.

For information contact:

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

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