Minutes of SMT Meeting held on 15 November 2023 at 10.30am, Robens Room, Ladas Drive.
In attendance:
- R Kidd Chair and Chief Executive
- N Monson Deputy Chief Executive
- K Neeson Deputy Chief Executive
- B Monson Deputy Chief Executive
1. Apologies
There was an apology from L Burns Deputy Chief Executive.
2. Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes from the 18 October meeting were agreed.
3. Action points
There were no action points not covered by the agenda.
4. Corporate health, safety and welfare
- fire wardens issue still ongoing
- five staff underwent Emergency First Aid training on 20 October to assist in providing cover when in Ladas - plan to roll out further training provision in 2024
- Face Fit testing will move ahead for relevant staff and a note will issue to staff and proposed completion date is end of January 2024
- R Magee delivered Legionella awareness training for staff on the 23 and 24 October
5. (a) Audit, Risk Management and Finance
- bids submitted to DfE for £185K additional funds to support work in this current year
- a business case has been prepared to go to the board to approve additional spend up to £125K for the WRH project preparations and £70K to extend the WTC
- ARMC concerns about the service levels for the Complaints IA exercise - revisions were made and agreed
5. (b) Emerging risks
SMT noted that due to changes in the board, we are now down to five available board members.
Table of emerging risks
| Date of SMT meeting where Emerging Risk was first discussed | Nature of Emerging risk | Action required | Current status of Emerging Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board loss of staff | Loss of board chair and two members | Change to standing orders | Continue to monitor. PAU process to appoint a new chair is underway |
| 18 April 2023 - Reviewed 16 August reviewed 13 September 19th October - reviewed 15 November - reviewed |
Many of the current vacancies are considered to have the potential to jeopardise statutory functions or CP targets in the short term | Regular liaison with NICS HR to highlight the importance of filling critical vacancies – a number of meetings took place with NICS HR and following these we have seen some slow progress towards launching competitions Some progress on a number of posts |
To remain on the Q2 risk register as a Business Continuity Risk with the likelihood of 3 and an impact of 3 To remain under review until we see some of the business critical posts filled Some staff in post and some confirmed start dates in October and first half of November. Risk reduced irt Business Disruption on Corporate Risk Register to a likelihood of 2 and an impact of 2 in October 2023 Continue to monitor progress as staff take up posts |
6. Staffing
SMT discussed a number of staffing matters with our HR Business partners and recent appointments were noted.
7. Case and project work
SMT noted the MIT update and the fact that there are cases under consideration. Limited capacity exists and cases may need to be prioritised by MIT.
8. Business planning
- we are looking at the development of a new Sharepoint site - we are looking to identify what information sits best on which system going forward - the replacement of CMS is being scoped out
- SMT HOGs were invited to comment on the format of the meeting going forward including frequency and discussion topics
9. Performance monitoring
B Monson talked SMT through the report. SMT noted 12 fatals, over three day incidents down by 4% (Addendum – Last minutes figure was a typo – 76% should have read 7%). Visits 3204, down on previous figure of 3610. It was noted that the transport inspections are taking a significant amount of time. Complaints are up 26%. Improvement Notice numbers are up from 135 to 181 and Prohibition Notices are 200 to date.
10. Workplace Transport Safety
- HSENI had a very successful and well supported launch of the Workplace Transport Safety Campaign successfully on the 12 September 2023
- two months into the campaign we have:
- carried out 3,150 workplace transport interactions
- delivered 1,466 workplace transport inspections
- served 195 enforcement notices (provisional)
- during this timeframe our multimedia campaign was exposed across television, radio, social media, press and solus rears with an estimated impact of 17,506,775
- with the campaign running until 31 March 2023 we feel there is a need to continue the multi-media campaign which will help spread our ‘Drive Danger Out’ message and educate duty holders and operators further across Northern Ireland
11. Board business
- by 31 October all board members agreed to changes to the Standing Orders and these were noted by DfE
- SMT noted their gratitude to Derek Martin, Tom Wright and Harry Sinclair for their service on the board
12. Any other business
SMT discussed a possible refresh of some corporate work wear. This may include a hi vis utility coat.
13. Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting is scheduled for 13 December 2023.
The meeting concluded at 2.00pm.