External independent audit of health and safety

Report: 14
Date: 2 December 2010
By: Director of Human Resources and Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides a summary of the External Independent Health and Safety Audit Report and progress to date.

A. Recommendation

That members note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

Audit Scope

1. The MPA in consultation with the MPS commissioned Turner & Townsend to undertake an overview evaluation of safety management across the MPA and MPS. The study commenced in April 2009. This took the form of a top-tier audit of the implementation, by the MPS and MPA, of the joint health and safety policy and its associated processes. In addition it looked at compliance against the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) guidance on “Successful Health and Safety Management”, HS(G)65. The audit included:

• a review of MPS policies and processes for health and safety risk assessment, including the effectiveness of measures implemented to secure safe working systems, both in respect of operational policing, staff/buildings and estate;
• a review of the resources and competence of the management structure inclusive of the supporting professional health and safety advisors;
• a review of any related procedures e.g. procurement, finance, infrastructure, consultation, training, and plant and equipment;
• a review of the range and quality of information relating to the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASWA), with an independent view of key trends, safety cultural/behavioural and emerging issues, and a review of the methodology for benchmarking and Key Performance Indicators (KPI), internal monitoring and audit procedures.

Audit methodology

2. The audit methodology used was as follows:

• Stage 1 – Establish the Background
  • Turner & Townsend first established the background within which the safety management system must operate. This included obtaining a clear understanding of:
    • the operating environment and demands placed on the MPS;
    • the MPA/MPS structure and organisation, management hierarchy roles and responsibilities, and recent significant health and safety related incidents, drivers, issues and concerns;
    • the health and safety, legal, Home Office and MPA policy and standards framework for the MPS operation;
    • the current MPA/MPS health and safety policy.
• Stage 2 – Review of MPS policy implementation
  • The MPA/MPS implementation of their health & safety policy, organisation and arrangements was evaluated through short (circa 1 hour) interviews with key officers and staff from across the various departments of the MPS and representatives of the MPA;
  • in total, 38 Members of the MPA and officers and staff of the MPS were interviewed.
• Stage 3 –Evaluation
  • Findings from the interviews were compared against the MPA/MPS Health and Safety Policy and HS(G)65, in order to report on the high level effectiveness of the current health & safety management system and to identify where key improvements need to be considered to achieve cost efficiency and/or compliance improvements.

Health and safety management benchmarks

3. To provide a defined baseline and allow for consistency in future audits, the MPA/MPS health and safety management system was evaluated against a clear benchmark. Turner & Townsend used the Health and Safety Executive publication HS(G)65 - Successful health and safety management, on which Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidance is based, as the benchmark for the assessment of the findings.

Conclusion

4. The auditors concluded that:

• the MPS is a large and complex organisation with numerous specialist police assets which could be considered, in both size and structure, as equivalent to a number of regional police forces;
• significant progress has been made by the MPA/MPS in the past few years to embed H&S management not only in to and across this organisation but also in to day-to-day and specialist policing;
• the MPA/MPS has reached a critical point in its health and safety development at which the significant achievements to-date should be consolidated and consideration given to how health and safety will be managed moving forward;
• the structures and processes that allowed the MPA/MPS to reach its current position are not necessarily appropriate for the next phase in its health and safety development and culture maturity;
• therefore, the time is right to consider and start establishing revised structures and processes for maintaining future health and safety continual improvement cost effectively;
• In summary:
  • There is a good level of health and safety management and control across the MPA/MPS;
  • many of the health and safety management components are working very well and some are excellent;
  • no significant immediate issues of concern have been identified in this audit;
  • recommendations are given to support the health and safety progress made to date and facilitate ongoing continued improvement. These relate to aspects of:
    • structure and control;
    • co-operation and collaboration;
    • training and competence;
    • planning and prioritizing;
    • culture and communication;
    • monitoring, auditing and benchmarking.
• These recommendations provide a framework for defining and guiding the MPA/MPS health and safety strategy for the next 3 to 5 years.

Action taken

5. The final draft report was received by Management Board on 10th February 2010. Management Board:

• noted the work to date and endorsed the contents of the report (less recommendation 11);
• commissioned the MPS Strategic Health & Safety Committee to review the recommendations and incorporate them into a draft framework for a 3-5 year health and safety strategy. This will require appropriate consultation with the MPA;
• circulated the final draft document to the MPA for their consideration and comment.

6. The final report was released to the MPS by Turner & Townsend after consultation between the MPA and auditors in June 2010. The full report is attached at Appendix 1.

7. On the 22 June 2010 the MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee received the final report and agreed to form a working group to review the recommendations arising from the report The working group has prioritised the recommendations and formulated a strategy for their implementation; this is attached at Appendix 2. The Strategic Health and Safety Committee on the 07 September 2010 endorsed the proposed strategy/work plan to implement the audit report recommendations. The Committee has now also included this work in the MPS health and safety plan.

9. The implementation working group will meet quarterly to review the progress of the recommendations and report to the MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee accordingly.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. There are no immediate implications on equality and diversity arising from this report.

Consideration of MET Forward

2. Although this report has no direct implications for the delivery of Met Forward. Ensuring the health and safety of all our staff will impact on our ability to deliver an effective policing service to Londoners. The process of review will drive service improvement saving resources.

Financial Implications

3. There are no immediate financial implications from this report. Costs associated with any additional work arising out of the audit report will be subject to a business case and submitted via the appropriate approval channel for consideration as part of the budget planning process.

Legal Implications

5. The information in this report assists the MPA 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.

Environmental Implications

6. There are no immediate environmental implications from this report.

Risk Implications

7. At the time of reporting there are no immediate significant health and safety implications arising from this update report.

D. Background papers

• Appendix 1 - External Independent Audit Report dated June 2010
• Appendix 2 - MPS Strategy for the Implementation of the External Independent Audit Report Recommendations.

E. Contact details

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

• ACPO - Association of Chief Police Officers
• HSE - Health and Safety Executive
• HS(G)65 - Health and Safety guidance number 65 on “Successful Health and Safety Management”
• HASWA - Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
• KPI - Key Performance Indicators

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