Download REHIS Journal 20/2 (Summer 2008) - The Royal ...

Environmental Health ScotlandHSE LAU newsby Tony Hetherington, Head of Local Authority Unit, Health and Safety ExecutiveSince my last article I have had the pleasure of twotrips to Scotland to start to get to know you all better.First, I visited a gathering of Chief Officers and talkedto them about the implications of Hampton’s proposalsand how HSE had reacted to pressures to be a better,modern regulator. In short, make sure every visit hasa purpose and is risk-based, that you have transparentpolicies and procedures, and are responsive to thoseyou regulate. So, if you are following Fit 3 priorities,applying the Enforcement Management Model andthe Enforcement Policy Statement, you won’t begoing far wrong. None of this is about going soft onenforcement, so if you are in doubt about this, readthe recent statement from the joint chairs of HELA.(http://www.hsenews.com/2008/05/01/joint-chairs-ofhela-statement-on-enforcement/).Second, I attended the REHIS annual conference inEdinburgh. Many thanks for your hospitality. It was avery interesting event and illustrated the wide rangeof issues your profession covers. In the light of what Iheard at the event I’m definitely going to lose weight,take more exercise, never eat another egg and avoidC. diff and other infections with frantic wiping of doorhandles and bedside buttons.On the work front, two issues are particularly pressing:evaluating the partnership and work to support theS18 standard.Work to evaluate the partnership was alwaysplanned for the mid-to-latter part of this year. However,the new HSE Board has decided to review the existingHSC strategy in the autumn. As partnership is akey theme in the existing strategy, we have broughtforward the evaluation to ensure the learning ofthe last four years or so can inform how the strategydevelops. Of course, this means we are now workingflat out to get things moving at double speed. Wewill probably be inviting some of you to attend focusgroups or to complete questionnaires at rather shortnotice, so apologies in advance for the pressureon deadlines.Meanwhile, the new S18 standard has just been agreed.It can be accessed at http://www.hse. gov.uk/section18/index.htm. If you haven’t looked at it, please do so.The standard will be applied to both HSE’s FieldOperations Division as well as to local authorities.We are now working with LACORS, HELA,CIEH and REHIS (Kevin Freeman - Director ofProfessional Development) to develop toolkits thatgive more detail about how to meet the principles setout in the standard and how to assess compliance.In particular, we are developing means to judge ifour staff in both HSE and local authorities have theskills, knowledge and experience to perform the taskswe ask of them. To do this we are developingthe Regulator’s Development Needs Analysis(DNA) Tool.We tested the tool during February and took on boardcomments. We are now piloting a much improved,web-enabled DNA tool for officers, inspectors andtheir managers to help them identify their developmentneeds. It captures the regulatory skills requiredof all warrant holders, prompting them to considerfurther development needs.Identifying possible solutions is a key element of theproject. The next stage aims to act as a conduit fordevelopment of good practice. It will map currentdevelopment opportunities, encouraging greatersharing of expertise, resources and materials andidentify areas where more could be done. We hopeeverybody, frontline staff and managers, will take theopportunities the tool provides.An example of the tool will be available on theHELex website from mid-June. If you want todiscuss anything associated with the tool, callPaul Kloss on 02920 263108 or write to him atpaul.kloss@hse.gsi.gov.uk.You will also want to be aware of some changesat HSE. As I type this, the new Director for HSE inScotland, Paul Stollard, will just be taking up postand replacing Stewart Campbell. I am sure Paul willbe extremely busy coming to terms with a wholerange of issues. I’m also sure that he will be keento meet you and cement relations with you all. If hehasn’t been in touch by now, he soon will be.Also, my boss, Phil Scott, is retiring soon. Amongst hisjobs was to champion partnership working with localauthorities across the whole of HSE. I am sure youwill all agree that he did a great job in buildingtrust and co-operation between HSE and localauthorities. Phil will be handing over his localauthority responsibilities to Marcia Davies during July.Marcia is the Field Operations Directorate Directorfor the Midlands and a long-standing supporterof partnership working with local authorities, and I’mlooking forward to working with her.36