Calderdale Council has an important role in keeping our communities safe, including the most vulnerable. Health and Safety is at the heart of the wide range of services provided by the Council, and the safety of local people, employees, clients and contractors is taken very seriously.
The Annual Health and Safety report is being presented to Calderdale Council’s Cabinet on Monday 12 December, to ensure that members are happy with the Health and Safety arrangements in place.
This year, the Health and Safety team has introduced a number of new safety initiatives and a planned programme of work to continually improve standards within the Council. The number of reported accidents and injuries to Council employees has decreased over the last year, and thankfully there have been no life threatening injuries or reportable major occurrences. There have been challenges, but these are being met through new schemes and training courses.
Some of the improvements over the year include the introduction of medicals for all those who drive Calderdale fleet vehicles as part of their work. This change in policy was brought in following the Glasgow refuse accident, and 81 medicals have been carried out this year.
New technology has also been installed in the new vehicles introduced as part of the new waste contract with SUEZ. The HGV fleet has been fitted with reverse ‘auto brake’ technology to stop the vehicle if someone stepped out while it was reversing. In addition to this the vehicles are also fitted with cameras and sensors which monitor stationary and moving objects and will activate staged braking, to assist the driver.
The Health and Safety team have also introduced a number of staff training courses, including Well-being and Stress Management, which promotes ways to effectively manage stress. 138 people have already attended and the course appears to be having a positive impact on absence statistics.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Business Change and Customer Service, Cllr Lisa Lambert, said:
“The annual Health and Safety report gives members an opportunity to see the progress made in reducing and preventing accidents, and is also a reminder of the importance of Health and Safety and how it should be a factor in all decision making.
“Calderdale has a good safety record, but it’s important we use new initiatives and technology in order to maintain this, and learn from the mistakes of other high profile cases.”
The report will be presented at the meeting of Cabinet on Monday 12 December at Halifax Town Hall starting at 6pm.