Agenda item

The Authority considered the Annual Safety, Health and Environment Report for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service covering the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

As the body with ultimate responsibility for staff health, safety and environmental compliance it was important that all CFA Members were aware of performance in this respect. The report therefore provided a summary of key actions, overall progress and outturn performance in respect of accidents and near misses and carbon emissions, together with a look forward.

The report summarised the arrangements in place to deliver the Service's Safety, Health and Environment Policy and provided a summary of safety, health and environment performance data.  It included the reporting on occupational safety, health and environmental issues that had arisen during the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

It was noted that Covid?19 had been a significant challenge to the Service during 2020/21 which had required significant focus across all areas to ensure that operational response and safety critical community work continued to be carried out safely for both staff and members of the public.  While the vaccination programme was providing a route out of the restrictions, the Service would continue to comply with Covid?19 workplace safety requirements which would be reviewed as restrictions changed.  

External Audit

Since initial certification in November 2011 annual surveillance visits had been conducted with re?certification every 3 years to maintain external certification of the Health and Safety and Environment Management Systems.  In April 2021 the auditor from British Assessment Bureau carried out a virtual audit against health and safety standard ISO 45001:2018 and environment ISO 14001: 2015.  The scope for both standards was ‘The Provision of Fire, Rescue and Supporting Services across Lancashire’.  This included all operational activity with virtual visits to five fire stations that operated different duty systems and to a number of supporting departments.  Continued certification was granted without any non-conformance and five opportunities for improvement identified.  Areas for improvement identified by staff had been developed into an Improvement Action Plan which would be taken forward through the Service’s Health, Safety and Environment Advisory Group.  The report included examples of improvements carried out during 2020/21.

Health and Safety Performance

During 2020/21 there were 57 accidents, 117 near misses and 9 RIDDOR events.  The report provided a summary of the total accident and ill-health statistics for 2020/21.  A comparison against previous performance showed an overall downward trend from absence following work related injury/illness and demonstrated a positive increase in near miss reporting. 

Health and Wellbeing

The management of sickness absence for 2020/21 showed that absence had remained above target.  To improve performance the Service aimed to continue with: i) early intervention by occupational health; ii) support to managers in following absence management policy; iii) encouraging employees to make use of the employee assistance programme and the Firefighters Charity; iv) HR to attend stress risk assessment meetings to support managers and offer appropriate support to the employee; and v) support from Service fitness advisor/personal training instructors.

During 2020/21 the focus for health and wellbeing had been on supporting staff, colleagues, families, and friends in response to the Covid?19 pandemic.  A range of material, as outlined in the report had been developed to support staff through this difficult time.

Environmental Performance

The Service continued to support the Firefighters Charity with eighteen fire stations currently having recycling banks on site.  In 2020/21 the banks collected over 82 tonnes of textiles.

There had been a 2% increase in waste collected from April – March 2019/20 to April - March 2020/21.  The total waste collected was 113 tonnes.  The percentage of recycled waste during 2020/21 was 30% which showed a slight decrease from the previous year.

The Carbon Management Plan agreed by the Resources Committee in September 2010 included a target of 40% carbon emission reduction by March 2030 from a baseline of 4352 tonnes of CO² in 2007/08.  The Service had achieved an overall reduction of 23% by March 2021 which equated to 1020 tonnes of CO².

A look ahead to 2021/22

The report also detailed key safety, health and environmental priorities for 2021/22 which included: the continued management of the impact of Covid?19 on activities and ensuring that the Service complied with Government Covid?19 workplace safety requirements; the implementation of revised National Guidance, the maintenance of certification standards, reducing energy and waste and the continued review of Health and Wellbeing arrangements.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted and endorsed the report and associated safety, health and environment performance outcomes.