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ENVIRONMENT AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE – Report by the Head of Environmental Services and Community Safety on the proposed Annual Intervention Plan of the Council’s Health and Safety Enforcement Service for 2008/9 The Health and Safety Executive and Local Authorities are the principal enforcing authorities for the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The primary purpose of the Act is to control risks from work activities. The role of enforcing authorities is to ensure that duty holders manage and control these risks and thus prevent harm to employees and to the public. Section 18 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires Local Authorities to ‘make adequate arrangements for enforcement’. In complying with their duties under Section 18, enforcing authorities are required to follow Health and Safety Commission guidance, which sets out the minimum arrangements that enforcing authorities must have in place in order to properly discharge their health and safety enforcement functions. The standard for health and safety enforcing authorities has been reviewed and from 1st April 2008, enforcing authorities are legally required to work towards the new principles and standards with full compliance being mandatory from the 31st March 2011. The guidance requires every enforcing authority to: ‘make a commitment to improving health and safety outcomes; set out its priorities and plan of interventions for the coming year; and to target interventions to maximise their impact.’ Although the content of the new guidance is largely the same as previous guidance it does differ in layout and emphasis. The attached Intervention Plan, see Appendix 1, has been drawn up in compliance with the new standard and sets out the aims and priorities of the service, the range of risk-based interventions to be undertaken, how it is intended to deliver the Plan and a review of performance against the previous year. The Plan also includes the policy on accident investigation to be followed in 2008/9. Over recent years there has been a considerable change in the strategy for delivering Health and Safety enforcement in the United Kingdom with the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities working in genuine partnership with co-operative planning to maximise the effective use of resources and thus reduce Health and Safety Intervention Plan 2008/9 cases of accident and ill health at work. There has been a change in emphasis with regard to routine inspections of premises with a switch away from inspections based on risk rating alone to targeting categories of business carrying out activities giving rise to the highest rates of accident and ill health. In addition, proactive interventions such as conferences and seminars are now seen as an effective way of reaching a wider audience and joint working with partner local authorities ensures a consistent approach for larger companies to reduce the enforcement burden on businesses. In 2008/9 Wandsworth will continue to focus attention on workplace transport issues as part of the national campaign, extend the work in respect of contact dermatitis, occupational asthma and other occupational disease matters in the beauty sector started in 2007, and will complete the inspection of care homes having particular regard to slips and trips, musculoskeletal problems, upper limb disorder and violence. In addition, officers will lead a project on dermatitis in tyre fitters, work with the HSE, Royal Mail and partner London councils on health and safety issues at the large sorting offices, inspect cooling towers that might harbour legionella bacteria and participate in the London-wide project on slips and trips in food retail outlets. Response to service requests and the investigation of fatalities and serious accidents arising out of work activities will be investigated in accordance with the accident policy. Future developments will include the impact of the impending Better Regulation legislation on service delivery and the potential introduction of flexible warranting to allow local authority officers to take health and safety enforcement action in premises currently within HSE control and vice versa. The Executive are recommended to approve the annual Intervention Plan for the Health and Safety Enforcement Service and the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee are asked to support the recommendation. Health and Safety Executive/Local Authority Enforcement work Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services Fit for Work, fit for life, fit for tomorrow -a 3-year strategic delivery programme, which directs enforcement actions by both the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities to the work areas giving rise to the highest rates of injury and ill health. Health and Safety Intervention Plan 2008/9 Recommendations. The Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny
Committee are recommended to support the recommendation in paragraph 3.
If the Overview and Scrutiny Committees approve any views, comments or recommendations on the report, these will be reported to the Executive for their consideration The Executive are recommended to approve the proposed Intervention Plan, as set out in Appendix 1, and the Accident Investigation Policy as set out in Annexe A to the Intervention Plan. Introduction. In September 2001 the Health and Safety Commission (HSC)
revised the statutory guidance to local authorities on the arrangements they
must make to ensure the adequate discharge of their duties as a health and
safety enforcing authority. Section 18(4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc
Act 1974 requires local authorities to act in accordance with this guidance.
In 2007 the guidance was again reviewed and from 1st April 2008 enforcing authorities are legally required to work towards compliance with the new principles and standards, with full compliance being mandatory from 31st March 2011. Although the new guidance does not differ greatly in content from the previous guidance it does differ in layout and emphasis. 6. Under the previous Health and Safety Commission Section 18 guidance, local authorities were required to produce an annual service plan detailing the Local Authorities priorities and its aims and objectives for the enforcement of health and safety. The new guidance requires every enforcing authority to: (a) make a commitment to improving health and safety outcomes; set out its priorities and plan of interventions for the coming year; and target their interventions to maximise their impact. Annual Plan. Part 5 of the Annual Plan outlines the proposed health and
safety enforcement service for the coming year, including the range of work to
be covered and the monitoring and auditing procedures in place to ensure that
the work is carried out to the best quality standard.
Over the past three years there has been a considerable change in the strategy for delivering Health and Safety enforcement in the United Kingdom. In the past the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities (LA’s) tended to work separately to their own agendas with little co-operative planning. However, 2005/06 saw the start of genuine partnership working between Local Authorities and the Health and Safety Executive. This Authority signed up to the declaration of partnership working at an event held at the Globe Theatre on the 13th July 2005. The principal aim of the partnership is the effective use of the collective HSE and LA resources to Health and Safety Intervention Plan 2008/9 reduce accidents and ill health at work. There has been a change in emphasis with regard to routine inspections of premises with a switch away from inspections based on risk rating alone to targeting those businesses carrying out activities giving rise to the highest rates of accident and ill health. In addition, interventions such as conferences and seminars are now considered an effective way of reaching a wide audience and joint working with partner local authorities ensures a consistent approach reduce the regulatory burden on business. In 2008/09 Wandsworth will continue to focus attention on workplace transport issues, will extend the work in respect of contact dermatitis, occupational asthma and other occupational disease matters in the beauty sector started in 2007, and will complete the inspections of care homes having particular regard to slips and trips, musculoskeletal problems, upper limb disorder and violence. In addition, the Division will lead a project on dermatitis in tyre fitters, working with the HSE, Royal Mail and partner London local authorities in respect of health and safety issues at the large sorting offices, will inspect cooling towers in the Borough with the aim of eliminating the risk of the spread of potentially fatal legionella bacteria, will carry out inspections of larger wine retail outlets/warehouses concentrating on manual handling, and will participate in the London-wide project on slips and trips in food retail outlets. The Division will respond to service requests and will investigate fatalities and serious accidents arising out of work activities in accordance with the accident policy, laid out in Annexe A to the Intervention Plan. Officers of the Division continue to chair the All London Boroughs Health and Safety Liaison Group and, together with the Head of Operations, London Field Officer Division of the HSE, chair the London LA’s joint planning and delivery group. Head of Environmental Services and Community Safety Health and Safety Intervention Plan 2008/9
Background Papers

The following background papers were used in the preparation of this report:-
1.
Health and safety Commission Guidance to Local Authorities made under the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Environmental Services Business Plan 2008/9 Health and Safety Commission – Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy Statement Health and Safety Commission Report – A Strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond. If you wish to inspect these documents, please contact initially the Committee Secretary on 020 8871 7032 All reports to Overview and Scrutiny Committees, regulatory and other committees, the Executive and the full Council can be viewed on the Council’s website (www.wandsworth.gov.uk/modern.gov) unless the report was published before May 2001, in which case the Committee Secretary (Mr. D. Jones-Owen – 020 8871 7032; email djonesowen@wandsworth.gov.uk can supply it if required).

Source: http://ww3.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s6113/Paper%20No.%2008-659.pdf