Health and Safety Performance and Service Priorities
Health and Safety Performance 2009/10 and Current Service
Priorities
Performance over 2009/10
The Council is the enforcement authority for over 2200
workplaces. Each workplace is assessed on the basis of the risk it
poses to employees and members of the public and allocated an
inspection at an appropriate interval. During 2009/10 we completed
almost 100% of our highest risk inspections. Looking across all the
workplaces we have responsibility for, we made a total of 374
inspections. A further 157 re-visit inspections were undertaken to
ensure that works required by health and safety inspectors had been
completed.
The health and safety team investigated 124 complaints about
unsatisfactory health and safety premises and investigated 32
statutory reported accidents. In terms of enforcement activity, we
served informal notices on 136 premises and five premises were
subject to the service of Improvement Notices. The notices related
to a range of health and safety concerns including safety storage
of dangerous chemicals, electrical and gas installation hazards and
asbestos.
In total the Council undertook over 600 health and safety
inspections.
As well as our routine inspection work we were involved in a
number of special projects with the Health and Safety Executive
(
HSE
), other Kent
Local Authorities and other enforcement agencies:
LPG pipework survey
Following the catastrophic explosion at ICL Plastics in Glasgow
in 2004, the
HSE
and Local Authorities have been keen to reduce the risk as far as
we can associated with corroded pipework which in this case lead to
a build up of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the building’s basement
and caused that four-storey factory to collapse.
Our Health and Safety team have been involved in undertaking
pipework surveys within Ashford and ensuring that any necessary
repair works have been undertaken.
Asbestos
This project focused on the duty to manage asbestos under new
statutory provisions. Industrial units and older premises within
the Borough were visited and checks were made for compliance.
Notices were served in some case to secure compliance. Again, this
project enabled council regulatory officers and Health and Safety
Executive (
HSE
)
inspectors to work together on a proactive campaign across sectors
and geographical boundaries, further testing the use of their
flexible warrants - breaking down barriers to enforcement.
The participating local authorities (LA) were especially pleased when
this project received a South East Partnership Award from the
HSE. Further
details are available within the
HSE-
LA
Partnership
Report.
Operation Clean Sweep
This is a multi-agency enforcement initiative involving several
sections of the Council, the Police, Customs and Trading Standards.
The aim of Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) is to uncover unlawful
activity that affects public safety. Each event, which may be for a
single day or several days, focuses on a particular area of the
Borough. The first ever
OCS
occurred in early 2010 and was
supported by the Council’s health and safety team.
Other Areas of Work
In addition to the routine inspection work and above mentioned
projects, the Health and Safety team were involved in the
investigation of a large scale Legionnella incident and also helped
respond to the concerns over infectious diseases and petting farms
following the outbreak involving Godstone Farm in Surrey.
In terms of staff development, the service has been busy
implementing a new system for assessing its officer’s competency
and identifying training needs. This system, known as the
Regulators’ Development Needs Analysis (RDNA) was
developed by the
HSE
and has now been rolled
out across all local authorities.
Finally we have been busy preparing for a change in the way that
workplaces are risk rated. The great advantage of the new method of
risk rating is that it enables us to focus on the highest risk
activities.
Service Objectives for 2010/11
Our main objectives are as follows:
- To carry out health and safety inspections in accordance with
HSE
guidelines.
- To participate in joint enforcement campaigns with other Kent
Authorities and the
HSE
.
- To continue to support Operation Clean Sweep.
- To investigate health and safety complaints and reported
accidents.
- To further develop the Council’s health and safety website
pages.
- To review our health and safety enforcement and prosecution
policy.
- To prepare to amend method of risk rating premises in line with
new
HSE
guidance.
Further information on our approach to inspections is provided
within our Health and Safety Intervention Plan.
Contact Us
If you wish to know more about the health and safety annual plan
please email julian.moss@ashford.gov.uk
or telephone 01233 330517.
This webpage was updated on
2/17/2011