Health and Safety

Body Armour: Wearing it well, make sure it fits, underwire bras and other issues

The Police Treatment Centres leaflet – English

The Police Treatment Centres leaflet – Cymraeg

The Ben Fund – Look after your back

PFEW advice

Captor/Taser – Carrying in Court Buildings

Following reports of officers being stopped from entering Court Buildings with Captor Spray or Taser’s, we have sort clarification from the HMCTS Wales Head of Crime and also from the North West Region Chief Firearms Instructor. The following is the present position, which should be followed by all officers;

Tasers - Officers are not allowed to take Taser’s into any court building and will be refused access by security.

This is national policy and is covered by the Senior Presiding Judge's guidance on armed police presence in court, issued in November 2012 and produced in consultation with ACPO.

The only exceptions are:

• Officers called to Court premises due to an emergency at the court.
• At specified sites where the Presiding Judge has given specific authority. The only such site in North Wales is Caernarfon Crown Court and such authority would only likely be given for situations where armed officers are required for security

Captor Spray – Uniformed Officers are allowed to take their Captor Spray into Court as this forms part of their PPE.

Officers in uniform should not be subject to search when attending court, although may be asked to show their Warrant Card.

Officers not in uniform will not be allowed to take Captor Spray into Court.

If there are any issues with the carrying of Captor refer security/ushers to the HMCTS Wales Head of Crime directions

Injury sustained on duty

Any injury suffered whilst on duty (e.g. assault, a road traffic accident, falling over loose equipment, disease, stress, etc.,) should be reported to your supervisor for inclusion on the Think Right website.

You should also advise the Dept of Work and Pensions (DWP) using the form BI100A in order to have it classed as an industrial injury.

They may invite you to claim for industrial disablement benefits. This is an entitlement and may assist in getting an ill health/injury pension, even at a much later date.

It also covers you should that injury cause further aggravation or deterioration.

Officers and their family injured through the negligence of a third party may apply for legal assistance to pursue a civil claim.

If the compensation is assessed at under £1,000 a guidance pack is available to pursue a claim through the Small Claims Court.

Click here for further information about the DWP Industrial Injuries Benefit (external link)

Near Miss Reporting

HS1 Near Miss  – Your Early Warning System. 

What is a Near Miss? Usually a near miss is defined as an accident or injury that almost happened – but didn’t. For example, the situation where someone trips and almost falls down the stairs but manages to grab the hand rail just in time, or when someone is almost hit by a reversing Police Vehicle in a station car park. In these two examples no injury resulted but this was the result of good luck rather than good management. A Near Miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage – but had the potential to do so.

Why are Near Misses Important?

In the simple examples given above, if an injury had resulted, we would have carried out an investigation into the circumstances and would have taken some form of corrective action. In other words, the decision to investigate and take corrective action is based on whether a person has been injured or not. So therefore, if no injury occurs, no investigation takes place and no attempt is made to prevent the same event occurring at some time in the future.

In essence what is happening is – we won’t investigate and take corrective action until a serious injury or major damage occurs which is far from ideal and contrary to our Legal obligations.

When near misses occur they can be regarded as early warnings that something is wrong somewhere – whether this be a local issue or a failure within the safety management system. We therefore need to encourage Near Miss reporting and further develop the systems we have in place which will allow us to take remedial action before an injury takes place – and of course, this is nothing other than good management practice.

When a Hazard and Near Miss report notification is received by a supervisor, the supervisor should discuss it with the person making the report, decide what corrective action should be taken and implement the change as soon as possible if it is within the supervisor’s authority. If not, the matter should be referred to the Health and Safety Unit for further advice – we are here to help. Near Miss reports and recommended corrective action should not be deferred until the next Health, Safety & Welfare Management Group meeting unless it requires further discussion. The idea is to take immediate corrective action now.

Many accidents can be prevented by taking prompt action to prevent a hazardous situation from continuing or developing into something worse. Therefore, use Near Miss reports as your early warning system – waiting for the injury, accident or for damage to be caused before acting just doesn’t make sense!

In addition to the above, please see below revised Procedure Guidance Note (PGN) 209 which gives further advice on reporting of near miss incidents and a guide on submitting Health and Safety forms.

Procedure Guidance Note – reporting of near miss incidents

Guide on submitting Health and Safety Forms

Personal Injuries – On or Off Duty

Officers and their family injured through the negligence of a third party may apply for legal assistance to pursue a civil claim. If the compensation is assessed at under £1,000 a guidance pack is available to pursue a claim through the Small Claims Court.

To pursue a civil claim you can either telephone the PF Claimline Direct on 0800 9171 999 or contact the Federation Office on Ext. 05400 to obtain the relevant application form for completion.

Sporting Injuries

Any injury received at any sport or game will not be regarded as an injury on duty, unless the sporting activity is part of a training programme or otherwise carried out in duty time under a specific order (e.g. PSU training).