The Safety committee met to discuss health and safety and sickness. The committee noted both reports and were assured that good health and safety management remains a key performance priority for the council.

Security Review of The Arc

The Scrutiny Officer explained to the committee that the Customer Services Scrutiny Committee and Local Growth Scrutiny Committee would be carrying out a joint review into security at The Arc in Clowne. The review came in response to incidents of anti-social behaviour and recent events that could have put the safety of councillors, officers and members of the public at risk. The review would identify areas of improvement and provide staff at The Arc with training on security practices. The Safety Committee were invited to provide their thoughts and will be kept updated on the review going forwards.

Health & Safety Update - Quarter 2 (July - September 2024)

There was a total of 14 employee accidents in Quarter 2, compared to 11 during the same period in 2023.

The following types of incident were involved:  Struck by a moving object – 2;  Manual handing – 3;  Slips/trips/falls – 4;  Cuts and abrasions – 1;  Violence and aggression – 1;  Struct by a fixed object – 1;  Burn – 1; and,  Other – 1.

The committee heard that the number of accidents that were RIDDOR¹ reportable in the report was incorrect. The report stated that three accidents had been reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, but it should have read four. The committee were told that although the reporting in the document was incorrect, the incident itself had been correctly reported to the HSE within the 7 days required by law.

The report provided details on all incidents in Quarter 2, including an incident where a member of staff had been bitten by a dog whilst on the Woburn new build project, and an incident where an officer had aerosol sprayed in their face by a group of children while locking up Bolsover Contact Centre.

The committee heard that there were two near misses reported in Quarter 2. The first involved a member of staff who stepped into a divot and fell backwards while emptying a bin at Riverside Depot. The second involved two suspicious packages that were received at The Arc.

The report noted that a total of 81.5 working days had been lost to accidents during Quarter 2. It also noted that 41 accidents had been reported by members of the public. These accidents all took place at leisure services, but none were serious enough to require reporting under RIDDOR.

The report listed the formal inspections of council properties that had taken place during Quarter 2. These inspections are carried out by members of the Health and Safety Team, the Facilities Management team, a building representative, and a Trade Union representative. The report noted that regular informal walkabouts of The Arc and Riverside Depot were continuing.

The report also provided an update on training: 22 members of staff had received training in a range of areas, and noted that there had been three instances where the council had been recharged for unattended training places.

Sickness Absence - Quarter 2 (July - September 2024)

The average number of days lost per employee to sickness in Quarter 2 was 2.35. This took the projected average number of days lost per employee in 2024/25 to 9.22 days. This is higher than the council's target of 8.5 days.

The report detailed several trends in sickness absence. Six service areas had recorded zero sickness absence during this period, with a further three service areas experiencing less than one day lost per full time equivalent employee. However, stress and depression continue to make up a significant proportion of the reasons for absence, as they have done since 2019/20. There were six cases of absence due to stress and depression during this quarter. Two of these were work related, three were not work related, and one was attributed to a combination of work and home-related issues. The report noted that there is a direct correlation between physically demanding work and high levels of sickness absence. Covid-19 was a factor in staff sickness during Quarter 2, accounting for 15 days lost. This is an increase from Quarter 1, when 12 days were lost to Covid-19.

The report noted that there were 16 long-term sickness cases open during Quarter 2. 12 of these were due to physical health issues, and four related to stress and depression. Of the four related to stress and depression, three were work-related. The report noted that support is being provided to staff who are off work with these issues.

The report also provided details of the work the council has been doing to support the health and wellbeing of staff. It explains that mental health awareness sessions are available for staff to access on demand and highlighted that these sessions explain that colleagues and managers are not mental health specialists, and their role is to listen to employees and, where appropriate, signpost them to appropriate sources of support.

The council has also been publicising relevant events and training. This has included information about Suicide Prevention Day, World Mental Health Day, Mental Health First Aider Training and Alcohol Awareness week.

The report also noted that the council has been working with a range of partners to provide staff with support, training, and subsidised access to services. The council has been working with:

• Derbyshire County Council (DCC) Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Team.
• Public Health England
• Quality Conversations Team across Joined Up Care Derbyshire
• Live Life Better Derbyshire
• Vivup
• Go!Active

The council provides subsidised gym membership at its Go!Active leisure centres. The report noted that 57 members of staff were currently taking advantage of this.

During a discussion about the report, a member of the committee asked if the council's efforts to support the mental health and wellbeing of staff had made a difference to levels of stress and depression, and whether things would be worse if no action had been taken. The HR Business Partner said that they believed the council's work was making a difference and explained that the figures in the report did not fully reflect the benefits experienced by staff through support like the subsidised gym membership.

The Strategic Director of Services agreed and added that the council only knows about the mental health of staff when that stress and depression manifests itself in absence from work.

A UNISON representative added that the support and services being offered by the council were likely preventing some instances of stress and depression from arising or worsening. They added that the feedback from the recent staff survey may help to provide more insight on this.

The Chair of the committee praised the provision of free health checks for staff and spoke about a personal experience where a free health check had saved someone's life. She also praised the council's menopause awareness training.