MINUTES OF THE 133rd MEETING OF THE BOARD OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND HELD ON THURSDAY 21st NOVEMBER 2024 IN THE T&R ROOM, HSENI, LADAS DRIVE, AT 10:00AM
Present:
Board Members:
- Mrs C Irwin - Chair
- Mr S McDowell
- Mrs S Rooney
- Mr G Strong
- Dr P Hart
HSENI Officials:
- Mr R Kidd - Chief Executive
- Mr L Burns - Deputy Chief Executive
- Dr B Monson - Deputy Chief Executive
- Ms L Nelson - HSENI - Minutes
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.
1. Apologies
Mrs N Monson, Mr K Neeson, Mr M Ditchfield
2. Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare
The Chief Executive stated that there were no issues to report.
3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest(s)
No conflicts of interest were reported.
4. Minutes
The minutes of the Board meeting held on 25th July 2024 were agreed and adopted.
5. Matters Arising
The Chief Executive reported:
Action | Status |
1 | Completed. |
2 | No progress due to staff resourcing issues. Will be carried forward. |
3 | Chief Executive reported under agenda item seven. |
4 | Completed. |
5 | Completed. |
6 | Dr Monson reported under agenda item 12(ii). |
7 | Completed. |
8 | Mr Murphy was unable to attend the Board meeting due to other commitments. The Chair reported that Mr Murphy will attend a meeting to provide feedback for the Chief Executive’s annual review. |
6. Audit and Risk Management Committee Report
The ARMC Chair highlighted the following as having been discussed at the ARMC meeting on 10th October 2024:
- Internal Audit update
Two audits were completed - review of the Business Continuity Plan (BCP), 5 recommendations, completion date December 2024. Review of the Workplace Transport Campaign, no recommendations received.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) have been agreed for a further 2 audits in relation to Procurement and Freedom of Information (FoI). The Procurement review has commenced and the FoI review is about to commence. Review of the new Inspector training will be completed before year end.
- Audit Recommendations Progress paper.
The Board was assured that all recommendations can and will be completed by HSENI in a timely manner.
- Risk Register
The Business Disruption Risk continues to cause concern. The main cause of concern w the lack of progress on recruitment.
Gifts and Hospitality Guidelines
ARMC reviewed the Gifts and Hospitality (G&H) Guidelines and recommended that they should be provided at the November Board meeting for the Board to note.
HSENI Risk Appetite
ARMC reviewed the HSENI Risk Appetite and recommended it be presented at the November meeting for Board approval.
The Chair asked Mr McDowell to provide a written ARMC summary report to board meetings as the minutes are difficult to follow for Board members not on the ARMC.
Mrs Rooney asked if the BCP had been circulated to Board members. This is an ARMC action and has not yet been completed.
The Board noted the ARMC report.
ACTION: ARMC to routinely provide a short ARMC update paper to the Board.
ACTION: CEO to provide the BCP to Board members.
7. Chief Executive’s Report
Mr Kidd apprised the meeting on progress against operating plan output metrics. He reported all were on target except there was some concern the over-three day output may be narrowly missed.
Mr Kidd mentioned the output of staff against a backdrop of staff vacancies and said this issue would be covered in detail in agenda item ten. He drew members’ attention to the recent DoF Committee where a Dep. Secretary gave evidence on recruitment within NICS.
The Board noted the chief executive’s report.
ACTION: The Chief Executive to forward the link for the DoF Committee broadcast to Board members.
8. Finance Report
Mr Burns highlighted the following points:
- Key dates and Summary
- Spend to date – Programme budget appears low year-to-date. This is normal as there is always an increased spend in the last two quarters.
- Monitoring round history
- Forecast – the budget has been kept tight to avoid an underspend.
- Summary – If the pay award is greater than the 3% that DoF has advised departments to budget for, this will potentially create a shortfall as the pay award spans 2 financial years running from August to July.
- Concluding remarks – budget is predicted to come in within the 1% tolerance. There is a reserve which can be used as a back up to protect against an overspend situation.
Mr McDowell asked when the pay award will be agreed and paid. Mr Burns reported there are no details yet of when it will be agreed and paid and that the money is accrued from 1 August to 31 March.
Mr McDowell asked if vacancies are not filled as predicted, does the Executive have confidence the budget will still be brought in within tolerance. Mr Burns and Dr Monson provided an assurance that any money made available could be utilised.
Mrs Rooney asked since the last report, what is the reason for the Capital underspend. Dr Monson reported this could be for lab equipment, the van or components for the new CMS system not materialising. Mrs Rooney asked if the money could be spent, Dr Monson reported that there are plans to use this money for operational business needs.
The Board noted the finance report.
9. Legislation Report
Mr Burns outlined progress on legislation and reported that the DSO have indicated that they hope to have advice with HSENI by the end of December 2024 in respect of the three EU Exit regulations.
The Board noted the Legislation Board report.
10. HSENI Resource Situation (November 2024)
The Chief Executive outlined the paper.
The Board had a detailed discussion on the risks associated with staffing and the organisation’s ability to continue to fulfil statutory duties. The CEO outlined the statutory duties of HSENI and assured the Board that these were currently being met. For future Board meetings, it was requested to include a statement on the risk profile associated with staffing in the CEO report.
The SMT outlined their plans for the 2025/26 Operating Plan considering the staffing concerns. The Board was advised that targets would be set according to the priorities in the current Strategic Plan, taking into account statutory duty, external factors and staffing constraints. The Board requested a paper to come to the January meeting to allow them to provide high level strategic input to the Operating Plan, which will come to the Board for approval in the April meeting.
The Chief Executive provided an update on the Trainee Inspector Competition. The advertisement will go live next week, interviews to be conducted in late January, start date of new Trainees early April 2025.
The Board noted the HSENI Resource Situation (November 2024) report.
ACTION: CEO to provide a statement regarding the risk profile associated with staffing in his report at future Board meetings.
ACTION: SMT to provide a paper to the January Board meeting to allow the Board to provide high-level strategic input to the development of the 2025/26 Operating Plan.
11. Items for Board Approval
(i) Proposed new format of the Annual Report and Accounts for 2024/25
Mr Burns outlined the paper and asked the Board to note the risk associated with the new approach proposed and agree the approach being taken to the compilation of the 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts. He stated that cognisance had been taken of the Government FREM but it was difficult to get a definitive position on what had to be included.
The Chair reported that the new format would still comply with legal requirements, and asked if the Board were content with the shorter, more concise document.
Mrs Rooney stated the report was very concise, Dr Hart found the update very helpful. Mr Dowell said he appreciated the timeline and the collaborative approach being adopted.
The Board noted the risk and agreed the proposed new format for the Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25.
(ii) HSENI Risk Appetite (RA)
Mr Burns informed the meeting the RA had been reviewed by ARMC who had recommended it to be brought to the Board for approval. He outlined the paper. Three governance outputs do not tend to change from year-to-year and our RA remains cautious / adverse. He outlined the rationale behind the RA to the 80,000 interventions which will include 25,000 site visits (Open) and the annual cross-cutting themes (Hungry).
The board approved HSENI’s Risk Appetite.
12. AOB
(i) HSENI Gifts and Hospitality Guidelines
Mr Burns outlined the Gifts and Hospitality Guidelines, which had recently been reviewed by the ARMC. He stated the Guideline was for staff and that Board members operated under the Nolan Principles. He stated the Guidelines were an assurance to the Board that there is a robust system in place which is important as HSENI is an enforcement organisation.
The board noted the HSENI Gifts and Hospitality Guidelines.
(ii) Post track research figure for the Farm Safety Campaign and longer term fatality trends
Dr Monson outlined the two reports stating that the research figures show that the Campaign is reaching the target audience and getting the correct messages across.
The Board noted the report, and commented that they were very useful and informative.
(iii) Schedule of HSENI Board Meetings 2025
The Chair reported that herself and the Chief Executive, subject to members’ agreement, propose to hold a full board meeting in June after the signing of the accounts. This would negate the need for the July board meeting. The Chief Executive stated that Board papers for the meeting could only report on April and May 2025 and not the full quarter. This is currently the case for the ARMC June meeting. Mr McDowell stated that there would be no draft ARMC minutes available since that meeting preceded the June Board meeting and it was agreed a verbal update from him would be sufficient.
Board members agreed to the Board meeting dates as listed below:
Thursday 30 January 2025
Thursday 17 April 2025
Thursday 26 June 2025 (signing of Annual Report and Accounts and then a full Board meeting)
Thursday 23rd October 2025.
(iv) Recruitment of new Board members
The Chair provided an update on the recruitment of new Board members. Advertisements will go live on 12/13 December 2024 with a closing date of 10 January 2025. Interviewing will take place the first 2 weeks in March 2025. Start date of 1 May 2025.
(v) Board Interactions with HSENI organisation
The Chair encouraged Board members to participate in site visits and events within HSENI. Board members provided feedback on recent visits and events they had attended as detail below:
Dr Hart attended the launch of the Workplace Transport Campaign in Stormont on 9 September. Dr Hart enjoyed the launch and was happy to see the Minister in attendance.
The Chair and Mr McDowell attended the launch of the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) Action Plan at Greenmount college on 2 October. The Chair reported this was an excellent event, it was good to meet the Agri-food team and to see both the DfE and DAERA ministers in attendance.
Mr McDowell attended farm visits with HSENI Inspector D Lowe on 7 November 2024. They attended one large farm with employees and 2 small one man farms. Mr McDowell enjoyed the visits stating the risks posed on farms was very evident. Mr Lowe issued both improvement and prohibition notices on the day. Mr McDowell thanked Mr Lowe for the visits and his professionalism on the day.
Mrs Rooney will be attending a Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) Patient Safey Issues event on 5 December 2024. Mrs Rooney will provide feedback at the January 2025 meeting.
The Chair asked Ms Nelson to find a way to help Board members engage more broadly with the HSENI organisation, with a goal of 1 interaction per quarter. This process will be brought to the January Board meeting.
ACTION: Ms Nelson to highlight opportunities for to help Board members engage more with the HSENI organisation.
The Chair thanked staff for good papers, staff and members for good preparation and interactions, and wished everyone a Happy Christmas.
13. Date of next Board Meeting
The next Board meeting will be held on Thursday 30 January 2025 @ 10:00am.
The meeting ended at 13:05.
Board Minutes adopted and approved:
Signed: ____________________________.
Dated:
Catherine Irwin
HSENI Chair