Minutes of the 129th meeting of the board of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland held on Thursday 1 February 2024 in the Robens Room, HSENI, Ladas Drive at 10.00am.
Pre-meeting for board members at 9.30am.
Present
Board Members:
- Mrs C Irwin - Chair
- Dr P Hart
- Mr S McDowell
- Mrs S Rooney
- Mr G Strong (remotely)
HSENI Officials:
- Mr R Kidd - Chief Executive
- Mr L Burns - Deputy Chief Executive
- Dr B Monson - Deputy Chief Executive
- Mrs N Monson - Deputy Chief Executive
- Mr M Ditchfield - HSENI Finance Unit
- Ms L Nelson - HSENI (minutes)
Mrs Irwin, in her role as meeting Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting.
1. Apologies
Mr K Neeson.
2. Corporate health, safety and welfare
The Chief Executive stated that there were no issues to report.
3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest(s)
It was noted that there was no change in the reported conflict of interest relating to Mr Cooke reported at the October Board meeting. No further conflicts of interest were reported.
4. Minutes
The Chair requested that the sentence below is added to Point 10 (ii) Amendment of the standing orders of the HSENI Board to allow for the continuation of functions in the event of vacancies:
The minutes of the Board meeting held on 26 October 2023 were agreed and adopted.
5. Matters arising
The Chief Executive reported that the four actions from the previous meeting have been completed.
6. Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC) report
The ARMC Chair highlighted the following as having been discussed at the ARMC meeting on 18 January 2024:
External Audit
Karen Costley, Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), and Shannon King from Ross Boyd Ltd attended the meeting. After some discussion, the timetable was agreed to be the same as last year. The draft Report to Those Charged with Governance (RTTCWG) and Annual report and Accounts are expected to be ready for the 20 June 2024 meeting.
Internal Audit update
This is the first year of a new three year contract with Cavanagh Kelly. Due to the renewal of the Internal Audit contract, only one audit out of four has been completed this financial year:
- Service Level Complaints received a satisfactory audit opinion with five recommendations - one outcome is that a new HSENI policy for service level complaints will be introduced imminently
- a review of Strategic Planning is currently at the field work stage
- the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the review of the Retention and Disposal Process has been agreed
- key financial controls – tbc
The Audit Committee is confident that all four audits will be completed by the end of April.
HSENI Risk Register
There are currently six risks on the risk register:
- finance underspend was discussed at length - the board will be asked under a finance proposal to help mitigate this risk
- legislation - EU exit regulations require updating - this risk is out of HSENI’s control and can only be progressed following the restoration of the NI Assembly
Audit Recommendations Progress Paper
- the Record of Processing Activities (RoPA) recommendation fell behind and the December 2023 target was missed - this target will be completed by the end of January
- all other recommendations have been implemented or will be completed within the expected timescales
Dear Accounting Officer (DAO) publications
The Committee requested a note on each publication as to the impact it has on HSENI.
7. Chief Executive’s Report
The Chief Executive highlighted the following key points:
- accident statistics
- Corporate Plan targets including fatal, serious, major and over-three-day injuries, as well as inspections and improvement and prohibition notices
- Workplace Transport statistics
- Risk Register - legislation risk, finance risk, Information Management Unit staffing risk, information risk, the DP accountant vacancy and staff burnout - the Chief Executive reported that an All Staff Event has been arranged for 15 March 2024 at the Pavilion by the Workforce Wellbeing Steering Group
- Internal Audit
- Annex B - Fatalities
- Annex C - Prosecutions
- Annex D - Events, Campaigns and Publications
- Annex E - HR Report
The Chief Executive thanked Mr Burns, Ms Mills and the Comms Team for their work on social media and the launch of the Colin Geddis videos.
The Chief Executive invited questions from Board members.
Mr Strong asked if it would be worth considering displaying good workplace practices in farming for the 60+ age group to add to what is already being done by Health and Safety Inspectors for other sectors. Dr Monson stated that the approach works well on social media but older farmers may not have access to social media. He reported that older farmers have been identified as a significant issue at the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) and will be included on its next action plan. Dr Monson reported that he has been in contact with HSENI counterparts in Australia and New Zealand to obtain information on how they target older farmers. He stated that in these countries, older farmers are encouraged to talk about and engage with each other in relation to safety at work. HSENI is attending six roadshows in Farmers’ Marts in conjunction with FSP partners in Counties Down and Armagh.
Mr McDowell reported on an example run by Mineral Products Association (MPA) where they run a competition on safety improvements and produce a magazine on completion of the competition.
Annex E - HR Report - Mr Strong asked if the number of working days could be included as a percentage. Mr Burns stated that NISRA was unable to provide that figure, Mr Burns assured the Board that there is no issue with sickness statistics as the majority were in relation to long term illness attributable to a small number of people. The Chief Executive agreed with Mr Burns that SMT has no concerns in relation to staff absences.
Mrs Irwin enquired if HSENI needed to look at the Strategic Plan and check if there is anything different that HSENI needs to focus on due to the trends in serious and fatal incidents. Dr Monson stated that HSENI does look over five year statistics and the causation is not the same for all accidents and confirmed that there was no change needed in the direction set in the Strategic Plan.
Annex B - Fatalities - Mrs Rooney asked for the background to a drowning incident. The Chief Executive provided the background to this incident.
8. Finance Report
Mr Ditchfield highlighted the following points:
- spend to date figures
- programme spend to date is 46% - this will be spent in the last quarter
- capital budget spend to date is 0% - this has been allocated for equipment for the lab and will be spent by year end
- resource and capital budget - 69%
- overview of forecasts and capital budget:
- currently forecasting an underspend of 0.3% - Financial Management Unit (FMU) continues to monitor the financial situation ensuring all committed spend is utilised
The Board was invited to approve an increase in the Workplace Transport Campaign business case (December 2023) from £120k to a maximum of £200k. Mr Burns reported that there are a number of areas in the Workplace Transport Campaign, including TV, radio and online promotion of comedic videos, where HSENI requires additional promotion to increase the campaign reach. HSENI could use any late underspend from other groups to increase the impact of the campaign and also to mitigate any risk of an underspend outside of the permitted tolerance.
A discussion took place in relation to this request as well as the Farm Safety and Workplace Health Campaigns. Mr McDowell asked if the spend for the three campaigns could be tracked in a table format for the year to date and included in the Chief Executive’s Report. Mr Burns agreed to include spend for each campaign in the Chief Executive's Report.
The Board was content to approve an increase in the Workplace Transport Campaign business case from £120K to a maximum of £200k should funds become available.
Action:
The spend for the three campaigns, Farm Safety, Workplace Transport and Workplace Health, to be tracked in a table format and included in the Chief Executive's Report.
9. Legislation Report
Mr Burns highlighted the three consultations, three sets of Northern Ireland Domestic Regulations and three sets of EU Exit Regulations on the Legislation Board Report. Mr Burns reported to the Board that all vacancies have been filled in the Legislation team and progress is being made on making legislation where it is possible. Mrs Irwin asked if there was any risk to the public or the organisation in the delay in making legislation. Mr Burns reported the risk is low as HSENI can still enforce using previous regulations and that there was no significant change.
The Board noted the Legislation Board report.
10. Any Other Business (AOB)
Proposal for Media Output in 2024/2025
Mr Burns reported that the purpose of the paper is to apprise the Board of HSENI’s proposals for utilising available media spend in 2024/2025 and it will be necessary to bring business cases to the Board for approval in May based on the paper.
Mr Burns highlighted the following on the report:
- Background and Assumptions
- Proposal and Rationale
- Summary
A discussion took place in relation to the paper. The Board noted the proposal for media spend in 2024/2025.
The Chief Executive thanked the Deputy Chief Executive and the Heads of Group for the huge amount of work undertaken on the campaigns.
Mr McDowell asked when the pay award would be implemented. The Chief Executive stated that it would probably be June. A discussion took place on staff retention as well as the impact on attracting potential new employees due to the pay difference in the public and private sectors. Mrs Irwin asked if this needs to be added on the risk register. The Chief Executive stated that SMT is aware of the situation but that it is hard to mitigate against. Mr Burns reported that after talks with Trade Union Side (TUS), HSENI plans to start a succession planning exercise. Mrs Irwin stated that this is an emerging risk now and should be included on the emerging risk register as a business disruption risk.
Action
Skills level of staff to be included on the emerging risk register under Business Disruption risk.
Board Member re-appointments
The Board agreed that Mr McDowell would attend the Partnership meeting with DfE officials on Tuesday 6 February and raise the point of Board re-appointments.
Mrs Irwin asked if Board members would be welcome to attend the All Staff Event. The Chief Executive has no issues and will share the details with the Board. Nikki reported there was a limit of 80 places and provided a brief rundown of the session.
Action
Board members to be forwarded details for the 15 March 2024 All Staff Event.
Closing remarks from the Chair
The Chair thanked all for preparing and attending, thanked staff for good papers and Ms Nelson for her support and reported that the Chair for the next meeting would be decided amongst the Board members, should that need arise.
11. Date of next Board Meeting
The next Board meeting will be held on Thursday 2 May 2024 at 10:00pm
Pre-meeting at 9:30am for Board members.
The meeting ended at 11:25am
Board Minutes adopted and approved.
They were signed by Mrs Irwin on Thursday 2 May 2024 at the Board meeting.