Agenda item

To present the report of the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor.

A follow-up report to the 2017/18 Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report was presented by the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor. The report provided further analysis in connection with the issues raised by the Audit and Governance Committee on the 2017/18 Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report when it was presented to the Committee’s February, 2019 meeting in relation to the following –

•           The differentiation between the two categories of Physical Assaults by Person in the types of Incident table at page 6 of the Annual Report for 2017/18

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor reported that the accident reporting system has two categories for Physical Assault, the one for Physical Assault and the other for Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour. The figure of 56 incidents for 2016/17 and the figure of 103 incidents for 2017/18 relate to the Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour category and are incidents where mental health issues could apply or where mental capacity could be questioned and where there may have been no intention to cause physical harm. The Physical Assault category includes incidents where one person has been struck by another but where mental capacity is not in question. The figures for this category were 37 incidents in 2016/17 and 45 incidents in 2017/18. In 2017/18, 9 incidents recorded as minor were against staff.

•           Whether there were any specific reasons for the increase in the number of physical assaults and whether the upturn reflected an emerging trend.

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor reported that during a review of the incidents between 2016/17 and 2017/18 it was found that incidents had been reported from an additional 11 sites across all services which it is considered is largely attributable to improved awareness of Health and Safety requirements following work undertaken in 2016/2017 to raise the profile of Health and Safety within the Council particularly with regard to reporting violence and aggression type incidents. The Physical Assault Incident chart in the report shows a decline in the number of incidents from 2013 to 2017 which is reversed in the period from 2016/17 to 2017/18. As the chart shows, the number of incidents under the Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour category has always been higher than for the Physical Assault category and includes incidents where there may have been no intention to cause harm. Therefore improved awareness may be the reason for the increase in the figure recorded. The figure for the Physical Assault category dipped to a low of 20 in 2015/16 but has risen since. This figure needs to be monitored more closely as the incidents may reflect an intention to cause harm.

The Officer said that figures in the 2018/19 Annual Report when compiled will provide greater clarity as to any emerging trends and, if there is a continued increase in the figures for these categories, may warrant further investigation especially if incidents recorded apply to services other than Education and Social Services for which the number of incidents of Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour recorded have been historically higher.

The Committee considered the report and in noting the need to monitor the figures for 2018/19 for comparison with those of previous years, noted also the need to encourage staff to report incidents of physical assault to the Police.

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor said that whilst staff can be encouraged to do so and the Council can bring such incidents to the attention of the Police, ultimately it is for the individual to decide whether to pursue the matter and for the Police then to determine whether the matter is to be taken further.

It was resolved to accept and to note the supplementary information provided by the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor as a follow-up to the 2017/18 Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report.

NO ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS PROPOSED.