Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to be considered.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

Moved by Councillor Rowan Clarke and seconded by Councillor Donna Hales

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of the Safety Committee held on 8^th     February 2024 be approved as a true and correct record.

The Health and Safety Manager stated the total number of BDC employee accidents in Quarter 4 2023-2024 was 8; this was fewer than Quarter 4 of 2022-2023.  For the types of incidents involved, none of these were RIDDOR reportable.  It was noted that a near miss had taken place in Quarter 4 of 2023-2024 when a fire alarm had been set off by a breaking motor on a tenant’s machine, resulting in smoke being emitted.

The Committee were referred to the table of the report which listed a resume of incidents logged and where they had occurred.  One of these incidents, which took place on the 19^th January 2024, resulted in the loss of up to 7 days; this remained not RIDDOR reportable.

The average quarterly footfall into Go!Active was 85,958 people; this related to all users of the service, including outreach sessions.  This was in addition to approximately 5,000 footfall per quarter to customer services.  The Health and Safety Manager asked the Vice Chair if this was the sort of information the Committee were looking for, and the Vice Chair confirmed it was and explained it was to establish and understand the scale of the reception area which covered the Council, the contact centre, and the leisure centre.

The total number of accidents reported by members of the public was 37, which the Health and Safety Manager informed the Committee was lower than the figures reported in Quarter 4 2022-2023.  1 of the accidents from Quarter 4 2023-2024 had been serious enough to be RIDDOR reportable; this had occurred in Leisure Services.

For Dragonfly Development Ltd., in Quarter 4 2023-2024 there had been 3 incidents, with a total of 21 days lost.

During Quarter 4 2023-2024, 1 Council employee had received further training in Health and Safety (Corporate Induction), and 13 Dragonfly Development Ltd. employees had been trained in Asbestos Awareness and the same Health and Safety (Corporate Induction).

5 formal biannual BDC inspections had occurred in Quarter 4 2023-2024 at the following locations:

·       Pleasley Vale Mill 1;

·       Pleasley Vale Mill 2 and The Dye House;

·       Pleasley Vale Mill 3;

·       Pleasley Vale Outdoor Activity Centre and Boat House; and,

·       The Tangent.

Additionally, regular joint informal walk-arounds of The Arc and the Riverside Depot had continued.  Unite and UNISON safety representatives received copies of all inspections, and these were available on the Council’s intranet. 

For Dragonfly Development Ltd., 7 inspections had occurred at the following locations:

·       Bersahill – Doncaster – 1 visit;

·       Market Close – Shirebrook – 2 visits;

·       Moorfield Lane - Langwith – 2 visits; and,

·       Crematorium – 2 visits.

The Leisure Facility Manager reiterated that for the 85,958, this included all Leisure Services including Pleasley Vale, Extreme Wheels and others.  As for the incident that was serious enough to be RIDDOR reportable, the Leisure Facility Manager stated the injured party had submitted a claim, but the insurance consultant had recommended the Council deny any responsibility; this was an accident.

The Chair thanked the Health and Safety team  ...  view the full minutes text for item SAF48-20/21

The HR and Payroll Manager highlighted the average number of days lost per employee for Quarter 4 2023-2024 was 2.44 days; this was an increase from Quarter 3 2023-2024 and was the highest quarter of the year in terms of average days lost.  However, the 2.44 days lost per employee for Quarter 4 2023-2024 was lower than the same quarter for 2022-2023.

When the previous 3 quarters were taken into consideration, the actual outturn figure for the average number of days lost per employee for 2023-2024 was 8.98 days; this was above the annual target for the Local Performance Indicator to the end of March 2024 (8.5 days).

3 Services experienced zero sickness in Quarter 4 2023-2024 and a further 4 Services experienced less than 1 day per full-time equivalent employee.

The HR and Payroll Manager referred to table 1 of the report which stated the total loss from sickness absence was £333,509.52 for 2023-2024.  This was lower than the previous two years, though higher than 2020-2021.  Table 2 represented the percentages of both short and long term days lost for each quarter of 2024-2024, with the previous 3 years listed for comparison.

Table 3 provided the top three reasons for absence per quarter, with Stress/Depression remaining in the top three reasons of every quarter since 2019-2020; 6 were work related and 7 were outside work related.

The UNISON Convenor noted it had been previously stated in previous Safety Committees that Stress/Depression had remained a key issue in the figures presented.  They informed the Committee that an Engagement Officer had now been employed and both of them had been looking into this issue; one of the first things being done was a mental health awareness campaign taking place in mid-May 2024 – information on this would be provided to staff to attempt high levels of engagement.  The Engagement Officer would also be looking into team events and other mental health promotional campaigns for 2024-2025.

The Chair asked about the take up rates of the mental health assistance measures/schemes already in place.  The HR and Payroll Manager answered that 35 employees had undertaken mental health awareness training, 2 had accessed the Cycle2Work scheme, and there were other schemes in place like subsidised Leisure Services, which 63 staff members currently accessed.

There was an employee assistance programme, a service shared with North East Derbyshire District Council, though only 5 employees had accessed this service in 2023-2024; reiterating that the recent employment of the Engagement Officer would be investigating alternative programmes.

The HR and Payroll Manager explained the Council had also inherited a difficult relationship with the current occupational health provider, and the Council had gone out to tender a new provider; this procurement exercise ended 3^rd May 2024 with 3 applications received – this would be investigated moving forward.

For the 2023-2024 occupational health figures, the HR and Payroll Manager listed the following: 5 employees had accessed counselling over 25 sessions; 1 had participated in 6 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy;  ...  view the full minutes text for item SAF49-20/21