Agenda item

Paul Morley, Area Manager – Prevention (WFRS) presented the report to the committee which included performance against several key Health, Safety and Wellbeing indicators and measures to identify any emerging themes.

The committee noted the continuing need for training; the “workplace” can often be somewhere firefighters have never been before.  The new training centre in Paynes Lane, Rugby will make training much more realistic.  The centre will be open in January 2025.  Training will help to improve operational response by crews with realistic training being carried out by our own instructors.

Other highlights from the report include –

In relation to the Derby Firefighter case, the service is waiting for the results from the National Learning Investigation and how it might relate to Warwickshire.

The subject of post fire contaminants and their control is a subject high on regional and national agendas.  Warwickshire has good working practices, awareness, and education in this area. A control of contaminants working group has now been established with stakeholders from across the service. This group meets every 6 weeks to work on improving our culture and practices around the control of contaminants.

WFRS Health, Safety and Wellbeing information is presented at the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee Meeting held every 8 weeks. This is a statutory meeting and allows the sharing of information and good practices.

It was confirmed that there are 8 specialist accident investigators and that a regional peer review was due to have taken place by now, but this has been pushed back to May 2025.

The committee learnt that following the last inspection, two areas highlighted for improvement have now been closed.  The backlog of accident investigations has reduced and the management of risk assessments has also been completed.

There has been an increase in the number of operational defects reporting but this is in part due to the wider scope within the category which includes vehicular defects.  It was noted that there have been 3 new Volvo fire engines for the service this year, with another 6 ordered for the coming year.

In relation to RIDDOR reportable incidents, it was confirmed that there have been no recorded “Specified Injuries” with in the Service that would be required to be reported under RIDDOR.  There were 3 reported “over 7-day” injuries reported; all were musculoskeletal and sustained during operational incidents or training.  One incident was reported to the HSE under RIDDOR regulations as a non-fatal, non-work injury.

In relation to wellbeing, it was confirmed that there has been a reduction in the number of violent and aggressive incidents against staff.  However, 2 of the reported 4 incidents over the last year, were aimed at Fire Control Centre Staff during emergency or hoax calls.  All staff involved were officers support from Wellbeing Ambassadors and managers.  Incidents are reported to the Police if deemed necessary.  Councillor Bill Gifford expressed concern about the number of incidents, saying it was unexpected given why most people would be calling the service.  Paul Morley agreed that it was always a shame to see these incidents and added that these incidents are significantly lower in Warwickshire than other areas.  It was confirmed that the service does a lot of work in schools, and with police colleagues to engage with the community to try and prevent future incidents. 

It was further confirmed that incidents are regularly monitored for any spikes, and to look at why such things might happen.

There are now 30 Wellbeing Ambassadors across the service: an increase of 11.  There are also 5 additional Trauma Support Officers.  Following a question from the Chair, it was confirmed that the Wellbeing Ambassadors are officers within the service who support team members who may have recently suffered some trauma in or out of work.  They have been trained to recognised if that person may need more external support.  This is part of their day-to-day role – they are not paid any additional salary.  Ambassadors may be approached out of work hours, but this is very rare.  It was confirmed that the training is from Banbury Health Psychotherapists – there are 2 days of initial training followed by annual refreshers.

Councillor Bill Gifford moved that the recommendation be accepted and was seconded by Councillor Chris Kettle. This was supported unanimously by the Committee.

Resolved

That the Committee consider and comment upon the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service (WFRS) Health, Safety and Wellbeing Report.