HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE Senior Management Team A Paper by Clive Fleming

Health and Safety Executive Senior Management Team Paper
SMT/10/05
Meeting Date:
6 January 2010
FOI Status:
Open
Type of Paper:
For discussion
Trim Ref:
2009/507388
FoI Exemptions:
Keywords:
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE
Senior Management Team
HSE’s response to the Strategy’s Building Competence Goal
A Paper by Clive Fleming
Advisor: Anna Bliss and Barbara Hockey
Cleared by Jane Willis on 18 December 2009
Issue
1. To agree the HSE Board paper (attached) on progress of the work being
undertaken to support the Building Competence strand of the strategy.
Timing
2. A specific Board paper on Building Competence was requested following the
paper Teresa Quinn submitted to the Board in October 2009 which covered how
delivery of the strategy was being addressed.
Recommendation
3. The Senior Management Team is asked to:
• agree the attached draft paper for submission to the Board subject to any
amendments the SMT members think should be made;
• give a view on how we approach the review and prioritisation of ongoing work.
Background
4. The paper has been drafted based on the work of the Competence SAT. This has
met three times and is in the early stages of its work.
5. You will wish to note that this paper makes reference to the Managing for Health
and Safety project which is the subject of its own paper. There is also a reference
to communication plans which will de developed in line with the overall strategic
approach to communications.
Argument
6. See attached Board paper. There are some key issues that the SMT should
consider.
• The paper makes reference to a wide range of activities identified that support
building competence. In fact over 140 initiatives were identified and this is
probably by no means a full list. Annex A in the paper gives an overview of
these initiatives. There is clearly some very good work going on and a good
story to tell. However this work has not previously been co-ordinated.
• Our plan is to explore what evaluation is in place and what metrics are being
used to judge success.
• SMT may wish to consider how we go forward to review and prioritise this
ongoing work.
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Consultation
7. We have consulted with SAT members and also specifically on resources, CCID
Finance, CSU, CSAG and PFPD.
Presentation
8. At this stage there are no presentational issues, however there is already
external interest in the developments of the feasibility study into an accreditation
scheme for health and safety professionals. A communications plan is being
developed to ensure key messages are co-ordinated at appropriate times.
Costs and Benefits and Financial/Resource Implications for HSE
9. The resource implications that have been identified so far are highlighted below,
however as work progresses and any new initiatives are identified, more detailed
costings will be presented to the SMT for approval.
•
•
•
•
Competent Advice Research – At this stage, a small quantitative study has
been commissioned and will be completed in 09/10, funded through CSAG.
Further research is anticipated and costs of up to £150k have been authorised
in the Science Plan 2010-2013. Staffing costs are within existing resources in
BIU through 09/10 and 10/11.
Accreditation scheme – the feasibility study costs (up to £48k) are within the
Corporate Science Unit budget allocation for 09/10. Staffing costs are within
existing resources in BIU through 09/10 and 10/11.
Competent advice toolkit – Existing resource costs within FOD will be used to
develop the toolkit in 09/10.
‘Managing for Health and Safety’ project – costs for this project are identified
in a separate paper.
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Health and Safety Executive Board
Meeting Date:
Type of paper:
27 January 2010
Above the Line
Trim reference:
2009/507381
Paper No: HSE/10/
FOI Status:
Exemptions:
Open
N/A
HSE’s response to the Strategy’s Building Competence Goal
A paper by:
Clive Fleming
Advised by Anna Bliss and Barbara Hockey
Purpose of the paper
1 To advise the Board on work to date to develop HSE’s response to the strategic
goal of Building Competence.
2 To seek agreement on the direction of travel.
Background
3 Our Strategy goal is “to encourage an increase in competence, which will enable
greater ownership and profiling of risk, thereby promoting sensible and
proportionate risk management”.
4 Addressing competence has long been at the heart of HSE’s work. However, this
is the first time that it has been addressed as a core theme.
5 It is a potentially huge area of work and cuts across all of the strands of the
Strategy. We have been looking across the strategy themes to capture the
existing work streams. For example, the worker involvement strand includes
work to provide training for safety reps and their first line management.
Argument
6 We are working through the following process:
Phase 1 We have completed our initial stock-take of our current position –
scoping what we mean by competence and what work is ongoing.
We found a wide range of initiatives either underway or planned. To help our
focus we have categorised these into five broad areas of competence:
• Competence of the regulators
• Competence of employers to manage both health and safety
• Competence of professionals to assess risk and give advice
• Competence of individuals, including employees and those in safety critical
roles
• Competence of young persons to understand risk
Annex A sets out, at a high level, the broad range of relevant work we have found
based on HSE’s and LACORS' input.
It is clear that most of this work is being delivered in partnership and through
others. Devolution of health (relevant to the competency of occupational health
professionals) and education (relevant to intervention routes through education)
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in Scotland and Wales has led to some work with different partners, not
necessarily delivered in exactly the same way as in England.
Phase 2 – Review activities
We are currently in an iteration of this stage. The wide range of existing activities
poses the question of what is working well and where are we being most effective
in building competence. We have initially identified some key work that is new
and will be crucial to delivery of the strategy (see below). We now need to look
again at the broader range of work and will:
• Identify gaps
• Look for opportunities to combine work
• Look for opportunities to work through others
• Select where to focus resources and reinforce work that will be most
critical to delivery of improved competence
Phase 3 – Establish the mechanisms to evaluate and measure impact
Individual existing projects should have evaluation in place. As part of the review
we will also obtain information about how these are being measured. We will put
in place an overall plan for tracking progress and evaluating impact.
7 We have identified some key work, some existing and some new, that will be
important to delivery of this strategy theme:
•
The ‘Managing for Health and Safety’ project will focus on refreshing and
reinvigorating the regulator’s position on competent management of health
and safety. It is expected to deliver a package of work, including a statement
of the core elements for managing for H&S and a refreshed and ‘reduced’
Successful H&S Management (HSG65). You have a below the line paper on
this project, which gives the detail.
•
As part of a suite of toolkits for Inspectors, FOD will develop and pilot a
competent advice toolkit to assist in appropriate interventions being made
where there is reason to believe that providers of advice have not assisted the
employer to comply with health and safety legislation in a sensible and
proportionate way.
•
There is common agreement that a proportion of employers feel confused
about what they are required to do and that apparently conflicting advice from
external advisors is a factor. We are commissioning research to establish
when, where, how and with what effect employers obtain advice which will
give us a baseline to work against. Our network of professional health and
safety bodies have been involved in helping us scope the research. The initial
results of this should be available from spring 2010.
•
C-CID is facilitating work by the professional bodies to carry out a feasibility
study for an accreditation scheme for health and safety professionals (see
Annex B).
•
The strategy refers to the need for basic understanding of risk and application
of sensible and proportionate management of risk as a life skill and as an
underpinning aspect of competence. We have broken this down into three
broad categories for those of school age; those in vocational education and
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training (VET); and young workers. HSE work will to help address health
issues in the VET area and also with young workers through the Worker
Involvement initiatives. For those of school age, HSE’s involvement is
primarily to support initiatives of external organisations such as IOSH who
have developed specific risk education courses aimed at 14-year olds and
above.
There are also some areas where we have identified that there may be opportunities
to work more strategically and we will now look again at how best to proceed:
•
The competence of individuals, whether they are employers, managers,
supervisors, employees (especially representatives) or those with safety
critical roles (such as plant maintenance engineers), and the part they have to
play in the management of H&S is a key aspect of work across HSE and LAs.
HSE has been involved in different levels with external organisations who
devise content for courses, deliver training or assess and certify competence.
We need to consider further whether there is an opportunity to improve the
impact of such work by ensuring the way that we intervene is appropriate to
the level of risk and that we are making the most effective links between work
within HSE, with LAs and with others who can influence duty holders.
•
Whilst HSE and LAs are competent regulators of health and safety, there is
an opportunity to review the current skills mix, to ensure that we are properly
equipped to effectively tackle the strategy goals. This will not involve
changing the way that training is delivered, but may involve reviewing the
content of training for operational staff in their 4-year early years training
programme, including the Post Graduate Diploma in Regulatory Health and
Safety (PGD) and their continuing professional development through RDNA,
guidance to inspectors and specific courses. As the overall delivery picture
becomes clearer we also need to ensure that the right balance of research,
policy and specialist support resources are also in place.
•
We recognise that a clear stakeholder communications plan is required to
ensure that the right messages are being delivered. Competence is not an
easy theme in terms of communication and any targeted messages will need
to fit within HSE’s strategic communications strategy.
Resource/Financial Implications
8 The future resource implications depend upon which prioritised activities are
taken forward as part of phase 2 and 3 of the on-going competence work. The
strategic steer from the SMT and HSE Board will determine the financial
commitment to this Strategy goal. In addition, more detailed costings will be
presented to the SMT for approval prior to making any commitments. The
resource impacts of commitments to date are affordable within current budget
allocations for 2009/10 and the indicative allocations for 2010/11.
Conclusion
9 There is a broad range of ongoing work that addresses the issue of competence.
It is encouraging to have identified so many initiatives that support the theme of
building competence.
10 To support delivery of the Strategy we are proposing a staged approach to taking
this work forward. This involves a more strategic management of ongoing
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activities; impact evaluation; and highlighting those key areas in which the
Strategy has prompted us to start new work or to boost existing plans.
11 The Board is asked to consider this proposed approach and advise if this
direction of travel is appropriate.
Paper clearance
12 This paper has been cleared by Jane Willis and Patrick McDonald.
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Annex A
SUMMARY OF COMPETENCE WORK IN HSE 2009
COMPETENCE OF OUR REGULATORS
Early Years Training for inspectors and continuing professional development through the
RDNA tool and GRIP and professional qualifications for specialist inspectors. Training
programmes include management, leadership and personal development. Competence of
the regulator is also taken forward through:
1) Working with and through others using MoUs etc
2) Maximising knowledge and experience eg through coaching, workshops, and
networking
3) Setting benchmarks and enforcement expectations
4) Assurance mechanisms including peer review
COMPETENCE OF EMPLOYERS TO MANAGE SAFELY
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Senior level commitment/engagement initiatives
Employer targeted guidance
Development of industry initiatives and improvement schemes
Training (often in partnership) aimed at improving competence
Work to promote competent procurement
Clarifying roles and responsibilities for dutyholders
COMPETENCE OF PROFESSIONALS TO ASSESS RISK AND GIVE ADVICE
1)
2)
3)
4)
Work with professional bodies
Work with other government departments
Improving procurement schemes
Upskilling others to deliver
5) Ensuring professionals meet their legal responsibilities through inspection and
investigation work with enforcement where necessary.
COMPETENCE OF INDIVIDUALS AND EMPLOYEES TO MANAGE SAFELY
1)
2)
3)
4)
Industry competence schemes
National competence schemes
Promoting consistent messages to the workforce
Worker involvement projects including behavioural safety.
COMPETENCE OF YOUNG PERSONS TO UNDERSTAND RISK
1) Input to under and post-graduate schemes and to NVQs to improve the competence
of young persons.
2) Input to apprenticeship schemes
3) Work with Sector Skills Councils
4) Working with others in the education system to promote a balanced understanding of
risk.
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COMPETENCE OF OUR REGULATORS
Key work in relation to the competence of the regulator is the Early Years Training for inspectors and continuing professional development through the RDNA tool
and GRIP and professional qualifications for specialist inspectors. Training programmes include management, leadership and personal development. Competence
of the regulator is also taken forward through:
1. Working with and through others eg
• Training for Local Authority regulators in a broad range of issues from topics/sectors to intervention techniques
• Training for Care Quality Commission inspectors in understanding of health and safety risks and identification of evident concerns
• The Local Authority Construction Engagement (LACE) project is developing training material on construction for LA Inspectors.
• Development of a National Occupational Standard for nuclear regulation, jointly with the Environment Agency (EA); the Scottish Environmental Protection
Agency (SEPA); the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulatory and the Office of Civil Nuclear Regulation
• Partnership work with other Regulators eg with the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service who deal with violence and aggression issues in the
NHS and working with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to improve joint working in line with work related deaths protocol (WRDP) and
increase understanding of the application of HSW to police forces.
• Working with gas Emergency Service Providers to ensure they provide more accurate and consistent information when reporting RIDDOR 6(1) incidents,
especially during when making silent hours calls to duty officers.
• Memorandums(a!) of Understanding (MOUs)
2. Maximising knowledge and experience eg
• Setting enforcement expectations
• Development and application of inspection topic packs to improve consistency of approach and set clear enforcement expectations.
• Recruitment of Band 4 Inspectors directly from the construction industry for fixed 2 year contracts.
• Improving consistency, national teams (fairgrounds, product safety), nominated stress inspectors to deliver and buddy, community of interest sites.
• Various training delivery mechanisms eg workshops, lunchtime ‘concerts’, coaching (particularly for Band 4 trainees).
3. Assurance mechanisms
• 18 month project of benchmarking inspections across the sector. This will involve putting together teams of inspectors (of varying experience within the team)
and targeting key issues across a number of sites according to an inspection template. This will allow inspectors to develop regulatory skills and learn from
more experienced colleagues. During the project, we will undertake a peer review of enforcement across the unit, to ensure consistent and appropriate
decision making.
• Development of Section 18 guidance and toolkits
• Programme of peer review of enforcement decisions being carried out across FOD
• Project within ND is mapping the job functions and associated competence requirements and learning and development provisions for ND staff, starting with
Nuclear Safety Inspectors. The ND competence framework for ND Nuclear Safety Inspectors has been developed, subjected to audit and is now being
revised to conform to modern learning and development training qualification processes.
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COMPETENCE OF EMPLOYERS TO MANAGE SAFELY
1. Senior level commitment/engagement initiatives eg OSD step change; asbestos licensing step change CEO conferences; nuclear licensee manager events.
2. Employer targeted guidance eg
• targeted elements of websites, notably LEV, COSHH etc
• revision of existing guidance eg Events Safety Guide, Care Homes guidance
• support for production of industry produced guidance eg 'managing' and 'directing' safely packages aimed at the NHS; the Manual Handling Training and
Information Passport - adopted throughout the NHS and LAs in Wales.
3. Development of industry initiatives and improvement schemes eg
• development of VQ guidance for farming and horticulture (supervisors and managers);
• Revitalising Network: an all-manufacturing experience sharing forum eg on behavioural issues.
4. Training (often in partnership) aimed at improving competence eg
• workshops on managing stress in the NHS;
• roadshows with stakeholders on specific topics eg local exhaust ventilation (LEV);
• specialised industry seminars eg silica; LA waste/recycling procurement;
• development of training packages eg the recent Bedrails CD and upcoming Legionella CD;
• Research by HSL on competence of managers and supervisors to manage safely including organisational culture
• the CDM ACoP makes explicit the requirements for individuals to be competent - whether site workers, managers or professional staff.
• contributions to national occupational standards and VQs eg explosives;
• development and promotion of the ART tool including a training package for external use to help duty holders assess the risk of upper limb disorders caused
by repetitive tasks.
5. Work to promote competent procurement eg
• the Construction and Design Management Regulations 2007 (CDM) & ACOP contain specific requirements on procurement including how to assess the
competence of both individuals and organisations. These core criteria have read across to other industries.
• an HSE wide group established to influence the inclusion of health and safety requirements when work is procured by local authorities.
6. Clarifying roles and responsibilities eg
• the ‘Roles and Responsibilities’ guidance for Education aimed at providing clarity about key role holders includes case study material to assist those role
holders in tackling typical health and safety issues;
• high level statements on balancing operational and health and safety duties in police and fire service and guidance to managers to help them to understand
and implement the principles.
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COMPETENCE OF PROFESSIONALS TO ASSESS RISK AND GIVE ADVICE
1. Work with professional bodies
• Supporting IOSH specialist groups; Aviation & Aerospace Group and Warehousing forum of the IOSH Retail and Distribution group; forums for H&S
professionals
• Work with geotechnical specialists on quarry face heights, and bodies like the Institute of Quarrying.
• BOHS, SAFED to develop and improve training for LEV testing engineers
• Development of an accredited training scheme for bio safety professionals with the Institute of Safety in Technology and Research (ISTR)
2. Work with other government departments (OGDs) eg
• DEFRA to give coherent messages related to waste collections/ recycling where H&S risks can be transferred upstream or downstream depending on the
collection methods and frequencies, and where H&S agendas need to be accommodated alongside environmental ones.
3. Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) Forum arrangements for mutual recognition of accreditation in health and safety between the member schemes. This
is a first step towards reducing paperwork for small business often asked to repeatedly fill in health and safety questionnaires, and towards simplifying prequalification.
4. Upskilling others eg
• Health risk at work project in Scotland upskilling professionals to deliver to SMEs
• workshops for suppliers of noisy and vibrating tools
• revision of competence requirements for qualified experts in radiation protection (RPAs)
• workshops with noise consultants
• consultant’s workshops where key messages have been communicated on priority topics to achieve a more consistent approach and resulted in the
formation of local consultants’ networks.
• project to identify and tackle poor-performing consultants. This leads on from earlier work to develop a consultants topic pack.
5. Significant amount of inspection and investigation work with enforcement including
• fairground accidents where the competence of the competent person has been found wanting; investigation and expert opinion by one electrical specialist led
to a fairground ride examiner being jailed;
• prosecutions including fairground ride examiners, water treatment companies; incompetent gas fitters;
• work by Occupational Health inspectors (OHIs) on the standard of advice from OH professionals - a quick assessment tool has been produced to enable
OHIs to gather better evidence on competence of OH providers.
• prosecution of safety consultants who give incompetent advice in circumstances where it has placed others at risk (using S36 HSW).
• FOD specialists contribute significantly to improvement in the competence and risk awareness of discipline specialists eg through greater risk awareness and
improving the way they do their work.
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COMPETENCE OF INDIVIDUALS AND EMPLOYEES TO MANAGE SAFELY
1. Industry competence schemes eg
• The agriculture and related industries have long-standing Certificate of Competence schemes in place;
• Forestry Contractors Association, the National Association of Agricultural Contractors and the Arboriculture Association) are developing CPD schemes.
• the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) recognises basic knowledge and understanding. The CDM ACoP recognises this as meeting stage 1
assessment. Different colours represent higher levels. Other competence schemes exist for particular groups and trades.
• development of the Supervision of Underground Mining Operations qualification and Deputy's certificates for coal mines.
2. National competence schemes eg
• NVQ level 2 targets the competence of individuals and employees
• Work with GoSkills to embed H&S messages and content into National Occupational Standards and training for workers in the aviation, bus and coach, taxi
and private hire industries;
• Working with Skills for Logistics (SfL) to embed H&S messages and content into NOSs and training for drivers and workers in the haulage and warehousing
sectors;
• Work with Proskills, the process industries Sector Skills Council and the lead SSC on H&S issues for the Manufacturing Alliance
• National Occupational Standards for craftsmen electricians and mechanics and their immediate supervisors. This will form the basis for new apprentices
joining the industry as school leavers, but will also allow craftsmen trained in other industries to receive additional training and assessment in mining specific
tasks.
• National Occupational Standards for Mine Management has also recently commenced. The current scheme for management requires up-dating and was
internally assessed by mines. The new scheme will be in the NVQ format and will be externally assessed by assessment centres and an awarding body
• Courses developed with professional bodies, notably BOHS
• Work with SELECT (Scottish Electrical Contractors Association) and subsequently England & Wales equivalents to provide industry specific good practice
guidance with a benchmark standard for electricians to work to.
• UK, CEN and ISO standards where competence is part of the standard or is a standard in its own right. eg ISO/CD 11525 defines training and testing
requirements for operators of rough terrain variable reach trucks.
3. Promoting consistent messages eg
• working with SfL and DfT to promote H&S messages on safe driving/ occupational road risk;
• Providing support to manual handling co-ordinators in NHS Scotland to develop a manual handling passport scheme to standardise training across Scotland
so that NHS employees are competent to carry out manual handling activities safely.
4. Worker involvement projects eg
• research work on behaviour, change and worker engagement;
• Worker involvement projects in noise and vibration
• Work with trade unions and TUC e.g. contributing to Unison conferences on violence and aggression etc);
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COMPETENCE OF YOUNG PERSONS TO UNDERSTAND RISK
5. Input to under and post-graduate schemes that may have implications for future competence of developing players and to NVQs delivered through the
curricula of colleges to improve the competence of young persons.
6. Apprenticeship schemes eg
• working with the Ports & Shipping Partnership, Port Skills and Safety, Maritime Skills Alliance and Merchant Navy Training Board to develop and deliver
training including the Ports Apprenticeship scheme, IOSH Managing safely in ports, national occupational standards and qualifications for workers.
• Consulting on the proposed Apprenticeship /Foundation Modern Apprenticeship for Stevedores.
7. Work with Sector Skills Councils eg
• Construction Skills on a short guide to health and safety for young apprentices work placements in construction. This is a scheme where 14-16 year olds
undertake a qualification that requires 50 days to be spent on site.
8. Working with others eg
• Fireworks safety campaign with BERR, aimed at adults, children, teenagers and teachers. Also through CBI-EIG.
• LA talks at FE colleges eg Bad Hand day for hairdressers
• Talks for music students on noise and hearing protection
• LAs H&S officers participate in school science days
• Work with Welfare Officers re young people employment
• Work with employers offering work experience placements
• Crucial crew events for many years where agencies including HSE and LAs educate school children in the nature of risk.
• HSAOs have been involved in school and college talks about nature of risk and sensible health and safety.
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Annex B
Accreditation of Health and Safety Professionals
The Chief Executive has previously informed the Board of HSE’s response to the
DWP Select Committee recommendation that the Government introduce an
accreditation scheme for health and safety professionals. This work has recently
attracted interest from the health and safety media. This recommendation came
about in light of the Committee’s concern that employers report that they find risk
assessment difficult; and they receive poor advice which leads them to produce
overly lengthy paperwork and not to address risk in a proportionate manner. The
Government response indicated that they support the recommendation, but would
look for the industry to establish and manage such a scheme. Lord McKenzie
brought together a group of stakeholders to consider this issue and Geoffrey Podger
is now taking this forward with a stakeholder network. HSE is funding a feasibility
study to be carried out by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)
and Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). This should be completed
early in 2010 and allow decisions to be made about how the work should go forward.
The stakeholders involved in this so far are the International Institute of Risk and
Safety Management (IIRSM), Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
(RoSPA), the British Safety Council (BSC), British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF)
and NEBOSH. All were consulted on the draft proposal for the feasibility study and
gave supportive and constructive comments.
The feasibility study will be conducted in two phases. The first phase, which is due to
be completed early January 2010 , consists of market research to ascertain the
appetite for an accreditation scheme and a review of existing models that could be
adapted to suit the health and safety professionals. The second stage will be to
develop an appropriate model that will provide confidence to organisations that those
providing health and safety advice have the skills and competencies to provide
specialist advice. It will also identify any issues and barriers to such a scheme. The
stakeholder network will be fully consulted in this development stage to ensure that
any proposed model has their support.
It is expected that the feasibility study will be completed by April 2010.
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