Health and Safety performance report

Report: 6
Date: 14 September 2009
By: Director of Human Resources and Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

1. A comparison of injuries reported on the Metropolitan Police Accident and Incident Reporting System (MetAIR) between August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009 indicates that the:

• total accident rate fell by 11%;
• major accident rate fell by 13%;
• over three day accident rate fell by 23 %;
• slip, trip and fall accident rate fell by 18%;
• moving vehicle accident rate fell by 20%;
• injuries to police officers following assault rate fell by 15%;
• injuries to PCSOs following assault rate fell by 11%.

2. Accidents and Incidents within Property Services are being monitored and one RIDDOR reportable event was reported in the 3 months from April to June 2009.

3. A number of Health and Safety initiatives are being progressed within Property Services and are ongoing to ensure the MPA/MPS are compliant with Health and Safety at Work legislation. This includes:

• in conjunction with the Home Office Scientific Branch and CO, determining a replacement for halon gas fire extinguishers used for Public Order Duties. Property Services are awaiting further information from DEFRA concerning exemption cut off dates;
• development of the Senior Designated Officer process/training applicable within each MPA building and provision of statutory/mandatory fire training;
• development of an enhanced authorised access process for high risk areas of the MPS estate.

A. Recommendation

That members note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

General Health and 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 August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009, is shown at appendix 1. In summary comparing these two reference periods indicates that the:

• total accident rate fell by 11%;
• major accident rate fell by 13%;
• over three day accident rate fell by 23%;
• slip, trip and fall accident rate fell by 18%;
• moving vehicle accident rate fell by 20%;
• injuries to police officers following assault rate fell by 15%;
• injuries to PCSOs following assault rate fell by 11%.

2. The total number of injuries reported on MetAIR shows a falling trend. The last three months have seen the following total number of injuries recorded on MetAIR - May 544, June 513 and July 503. These figures are lower than the corresponding three months of 2008 (May 645, June 635 and July 668).

Major and over three day injuries

3. A summary of the major injuries reported on MetAIR between August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009 is shown at appendix 2.

4. Overall numbers of major accidents continue to fall when comparing the reference periods (August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009). The period May 2009 to July 2009 shows a marked fall when compared to the corresponding period May 2008 to July 2008 (28 major accidents compared to 44 major accidents).

Major accidents May - July 09
Total	28
May 2009	8
June 2009	12
July 2009	8

5. Of the 28 major accidents recorded on MetAIR between May and July 2009:

• 34% slipped tripped or fell (inc from height);
• 31% were classified as ‘another kind of accident’;
• 17% were physically assaulted;
• 7% were hit by a moving flying/falling object;
• 3.5% were injured by an animal;
• 3.5% were from manual handling;
• 3.5% hit something fixed or stationary;
• training accidents accounted for 18% of the major injuries. This was identical as the figure for the previous reporting period.

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 slight decrease in the number of reported over three day injuries from 83 in May 2009 to 72 in July 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 (May 2008 – 95 injuries; July 2008 – 111 injuries).

Over 3 day accidents May 2009 – July 2009
Total	227
May 2009	83
June 2009	72
July 2009	72

• Of the 227 over 3 day injuries recorded:
  • 26% were as a result of what is classed as ‘another kind of accident’;
  • 25% were as a result of being hit by a moving vehicle;
  • 17% were as a result of slips, trips and falls;
  • 16% from being physically assaulted;
• The remainder of 16% 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 August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009 is shown at appendices 4 and 5.

9. There were 496 injuries following assaults recorded on MetAIR between May 2009 and July 2009, of which:

• 464 were to police officers;
• 32 were to PCSOs.

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

Injury to Police officers following assault May 2009 – July 2009
Total	464
May 2009	173
June 2009	132
July 2009	159

Injury to PCSOs following assaults May 2009 – July 2009
Total	32
May 2009	7
June 2009	12
July 2009	13

10. The total number of injuries following assault on police officers for May – July 2009 (464) shows a fall of 120 injuries when compared to the same three-month period last year (584). The breakdown of the assaults on police officers for the reporting period May to July 2009 is as follows:

• 1% major injuries;
• 7% over 3 day injuries;
• 92% 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 32 for the three months. For the same period in 2008 the total figure was 29. The breakdown of the assaults on PCSOs for the reporting period May to July 2009 is as follows:

• 6% over 3 days injuries;
• 94% 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 decline 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 191 injuries as a result of slips, trips and falls between May and July 2009. This number is lower than the same period in 2008 (266), and the annual rolling average is showing a decrease.

Slips, trips and falls May 2009 – July 2009
Total	191
May 2009	55
June 2009	75
July 2009	61

15. Of the 191 slip, trips and falls:

• 5% were major injuries;
• 20% were over 3 day injuries;
• 75% 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 August 2007 - July 2008 and August 2008 - July 2009, is shown at appendix 7.

17. There was a decrease in the number of injuries following being hit by a moving vehicle from 55 in May 2009 to 50 in July 2009. In the same period in 2008 there was an increase (44 to 53). The annual rolling average for this type of accident is gradually decreasing.

Hit by moving vehiclel May 2009 – July 2009
Total	138
May 2009	55
June 2009	33
July 2009	50

18. Of the 138 injured staff:

• 32 were as a result of Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) whilst travelling to and from work;
• the remaining 136 injuries were as a result of POLCOLs

Study of Training Accidents

19. Training related injuries are not captured under the MetAir system as a separate reporting category and as such the data relating to these injuries is contained within free text reporting fields and not readily available for extraction and analysis to identify causation factors. It is planned that this shortfall is addressed in a new accident reporting system under the Transforming HR project. The SHRMT have identified funding for a study of the training accidents contained in the past two years of MetAir accident data. This study commenced, with the support of CO11, in March 2009. This involved a manual review to ascertain both the overall number/type of training accident and any causational trends. This exercise involved reviewing the free text narrative fields for nearly 16,000 accident records (total accident data for the period January 2007-December 2008). Initial results from this review indicates over 1,300 accidents were related to training. Further analysis indicates that:

• 19% of major injuries occur during training;
• 10% of over three day injuries occur during training;
• 8% of minor injuries occur during training.

20. Further work as part of this study is ongoing to quantify the type of training, accident causation, injuries sustained and what can be implemented to reduce the risk associated with training. SHRMT expect the draft report in late August.

External Independent audit

21. The MPA/MPS independent audit of health and safety being conducted by Turner Townsend is progressing well. Appointments with selected Management Board Members and the MPA are now complete. The MPS anticipate a draft report for consultation in early September.

Swine influenza

22. SHRMT and Occupational Health (OH) have worked closely with Central Operations (CO) to devise and disseminate guidance on swine influenza. This support has included intranet updates, guidance for specific policing tasks, and risk assessment guide on the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Both the 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. OH will test this plan in a forthcoming workshop.

23. OH monitor the numbers absent from work with flu daily. Numbers have fallen steadily since late July and are now at around 200 per day (our high was 320 on 24.07.09). This figure is 33% higher than any typical August over the last 5 years, where the MPS usually see about 125 personnel off with a flu like illness. Impact to service levels remains minimal.

MPA Internal Audit of Health and Safety

24. 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.

25. The Strategic Health and Safety Committee meeting in July 2009 reviewed both the corporate and business group progress to meet these recommendations. Business Groups are to supply further performance updates this month. The SHRMT are liaising with the MPS Inspectorate and Inspection Liaison and Analysis Unit (ILAU) to close out a number of these recommendations. It is anticipated all recommendations will be complete by December 2009.

26. The MPA are scheduled to undertake a follow up audit of health and safety commencing August 2009.

HSE High Level Statement - Striking the balance between operational and health and safety duties in the Police Service

27. The latest version of this statement (dated 11 May 2009) continues to acknowledge the operational challenges faced by the police service and the lack of control the police often have over their operating environment; that said, police forces can still expect the HSE to enforce health and safety robustly. Enforcement emphasis will continue to assess the adequacy of policies, risk assessments, standing operating procedures, competence of staff, command and control, and application of safe systems of work including training and equipment. This latest iteration takes account of reflected views of the CPS, the Crown Office, the Procurator Fiscal Service and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland.

Safety and Health Risk Management Team Contact with the HSE

28. SHRMT is supporting the investigation and Operation Eau Gallie Gold Group (death of PC Toms - CO19 Firearms Unit). The HSE have indicated that they will not be investigating this incident further.

ACPO Strategy for a Healthy Police Service

29. This ACPO strategy defined the commitment of the Police Service to improving the health and safety of police officers and staff against a range of health related targets by 2010. The Directorate of Employee Relations, Health and Well Being are reviewing the MPS performance against the sickness, ill health and accident targets. MPS performance will be reported in a future paper to the MPA CGC.

Property Services Health and Safety performance update

Summary of building related accidents and incidents reported to Property Services

30. Between April and June 2009 there was one RIDDOR reportable event at Empress State Building related to a lift accident which has been fully investigated. In addition there were 16 minor property condition related accidents involving MPA/MPS staff reported on MetAir.

31. Between April and June 2009 there were 15 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 175 near miss incidents. The increase in the number of Near-Miss / Hazardous Situations reported is due to the contractors Changing Attitudes Towards Safety (CATS) 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

32. The Home Office Scientific Branch is project managing halon fire extinguisher replacement for all UK police forces. The MPS continue to liaise with the Home Office who are in the process of lobbying DEFRA to obtain an exemption until post Olympics from environmental legislation that will prohibit future use of halon. Ongoing trials have not yet identified a suitable halon replacement.

Senior Designated Officer / Fire Training Process

33. Papers relating to the Senior Designated Officer (SDO) and mandatory Fire Training processes have been submitted and approved at both the Strategic Health and Safety Committee in January 2009 and the Training Management Board in April 2009. Training courses for the SDO and Nominated Officer (NO) roles are currently being prepared by Property Services Compliance team in conjunction with the SHRMT.

Access by Authorised Personnel to high-risk areas

34. The purpose of this initiative is to ensure statutory compliance 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.

35. DoI state that the Integrated Access Management System (IAMS) within buildings will NOT be implemented within the above mentioned high risk areas within the foreseeable future. Alternative arrangements are being evaluated to enable a controlled access system to be installed in the short term. Procurement is assisting in progressing this matter.

Notifications to HSE and Enforcing Authorities

36. The MPA/MPS has been in contact with the HSE regarding the following specific incidents:

• The HSE were notified of compliance with replacement of underground metallic pipework supplying premises from bulk LPG tanks at the Lippitts Hill Site. No further action from HSE.
• The HSE requested planned maintenance documents and statutory certification relating to lift 7 within Empress State Building. This follows an incident whereby an employee was injured when the safety braking mechanism of the lift was activated. One certificate remains outstanding.
• An employee at Catford Police Station made a complaint directly to HSE concerning obstructed access within the workplace. The incident has been resolved and a report submitted to HSE. The Strategic Health and Safety Committee are to issue a pan-MPS reminder that any complaints in the first instance must be raised with supervisors who will take appropriate action to resolve the issue.

NSY – Fire Evacuation – CO6 Security Officers

37. Action was taken to resolve security officer concerns regarding fire safety training. Training has been provided in respect of resolving safety issues in the event of a fire occurring within NSY. CO6 has confirmed that this matter can now be closed.

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.

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

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback