Somerset County Council, Environmental Management Group Customer Contact Risk Assessment (Persons and Sites)

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1 Somerset County Council, Environmental Management Group Customer Contact Risk Assessment (Persons and Sites) July 2008 Somerset County Council has an important duty of care towards its staff. A significant part of its functions involves Officers meeting members of the public and visiting a range of sites across the county. These include isolated or potentially dangerous sites, and members of the public who may not take too kindly to Officers undertaking their duties. Given the regulatory nature of the work, Officers in the Environmental Management Group consisting of Planning Control, Rights of Way, AONB and the Gypsy and Traveller Service can often be required to visit potentially confrontational members of the public or dangerous sites. An important part of the risk assessment process is to consider what they might encounter during a visit, and any action they may need to take in order to protect themselves. Promoting staff safety at work is a core requirement of Heath and Safety at Work. Taking this requirement seriously in the Environmental Management Group has led to the creation of The Customer Liaison Database - Customer Contact Risk Assessment (Persons and Sites) and associated GIS layer. This database and GIS layer is being rolled out for use across the Environment Directorate by Groups whose staff may benefit from the information provided. The use of both database and GIS is managed by the Environmental Management Performance and Support Team, and any amendments or additions need to be referred to this Team, with Lisa Portman (Tel ) as the main contact. All Groups using the database/gis layer are advised to update their Risk Assessments to include reference to the CCRAPAS information prior to going on site. Potentially Violent or Threatening Member(s) of the Public In order to protect members of staff it may be considered necessary to record instances where members of the public have been for example threatening, verbally abusive or violent. By recording such information it will ensure that other Members of staff are warned about situations they may go into and can, if necessary, make certain provisions for their safety at work. A record that someone is abusive, violent or is perceived as a threat to staff may be fact or opinion but, either way, it is classified as personal data under the Data Protection Act This means that such information must be handled in line with the Data Protection principles. To be fair to the Page 1

2 individual(s) concerned, they will be informed in writing when they are to be entered onto the database. They will be told: The incident(s) that led to their being so identified; Who the information will be available to; When the information will be removed or reviewed. A standard letter may be used for this purpose. Occasionally, it may be feared that informing someone of their inclusion on the database may actually cause a violent reaction. In cases where we have very good reason to believe this to be the case, the exemption for the prevention or detection of crime (section 29 of the Data Protection Act) may be employed. It is important to note, however, that this should not be used as a general rule and should be applied on a case-by-case basis. Potentially Dangerous Sites Members of staff need to be aware of sites they have visited which may pose a danger to them as they undertake their duties. Whilst this is part of the normal Risk Assessment procedure, in certain cases (such as the keeping of a guard dog on a premises) it is worth recording such information and by doing so it will ensure that other Members of staff are warned about situations they may go into and can, if necessary, make certain provisions for their safety at work. Classifying people as a potentially violent, abusive or threatening A decision to enter someone onto the Database and GIS layer should not be taken lightly, and there should always be consistency in approach. To ensure this takes place the policy below shall be adopted:- 1. Details of any incident with a member of the public, or with a site, shall be recorded on the Incident Recording Form. This form requires details of the site or person(s), date, nature of the incident and any further action (e.g. hospitalisation), incident code (see below), suggested course of action, review date. This Form is presented to the Group Manager within 7 days of the incident. 2. Incident Codes It is important, for the sake of consistency and clarity, to provide different incident codes for members of staff to use when recording an incident (the Incident Recording Form also allows staff to elaborate as to the nature of the Incident). Incident Code A Physical Assault of a Member of Staff. Code B Threats of Violence. Code C Other Verbal Abuse. Page 2

3 Code D Damage to SCC or personal property or theft. Code E Potentially Dangerous Sites (the nature of the danger will need to be expressed). Other Nature of which would need to be expressed. 3. The Group Manager will assess the Form, interview the member of staff and if satisfied with the evidence, authorise the inclusion of a site or person(s) onto the database and GIS layer. 4. As well as consideration for inclusion on the database and GIS layer, incidences of physical assault are to be recorded on the Corporate Incident Reporting Form (IR1), which can be found at PDF. 5. The Group Manager needs to take account of the Corporate Policy on Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination (Section C5 of the HR Handbook, found at /Entire%20Section%20C.DOC#C5). Depending on the nature of the incident the Recording Form (found at %20Form.doc) may need to be completed. 6. Whilst recording the information itself is important, the database also provides guidance to members of staff as to the recommended action they should take when/if coming into contact with a recorded person, or visiting a recorded site. The Recommended Actions are:- 1 (persons) Officers to take care, likely to receive verbal abuse and/or threats. 2 (persons) only meet the person(s) with a colleague, do not see alone. 3 (persons) only see on Council premises. 4 (persons) only see with Police present. 5 (sites) only visit after giving prior notification and with site owner/operators agreement. 6 (sites) visit with a colleague, do not visit alone. 7 (sites) only visit with Police present. 7. The Group Manager confirms the correct Action Code, and requests the Environmental Management Performance and Support Team to send a letter to the person(s) or site owner/operator informing them of their inclusion on the database/gis layer. This letter also gives details of the incident and the Review Date, and gives the receiver an opportunity to apologise for their behaviour (as well as ensuring we comply with Data Protection legislation). A letter may not be sent if it is considered this would exacerbate the situation; in these cases, the local Member only is informed. Page 3

4 8. A Review Date shall be set based upon the type of incident, as follows:- Incident Code A (Assault of a Member of Staff) 5 years from the date of incident. Code B (Threats) 3 years. Code C (Verbal Abuse) 2 years. Code D (Damage to SCC Property or theft) 3 years. Code E (Dangerous Site) 3 years. Code F (other) negotiable. 9. All incidents coded A or B will be reported to the local Member for that area. 10. In case of any further (and potentially more serious) incidents, staff are advised to report occurrences to the Police. The Group Manager can advise on this issue. 11. All subsequent visits, telephone calls or dealings with a recorded person must be recorded until the Review Date. This is done on the Follow Up Report, regardless of whether the visit/contact is good or bad. 12. At the Review Date the Group Manager will assess whether there remains a potential danger/threat to staff members, and if so will set a further Review Date. The person(s) or site owner/operator will be informed in writing of this fact, with a reason given for this extension. Recording people on the database should not be used where there is no real threat to staff. People should not be recorded merely for being perceived as a nuisance. There must be a reason to believe that there is a real threat of physical or mental harm to staff. Access to the Database Information held on the Database and GIS layer is held securely and only disclosed to staff who may have contact with the individual(s) or visiting the recorded sites. Access should be restricted to members of the Environmental Management Group (everyone in the Group deals with the public to some extent, either by telephone or in person). To comply with the Data Protection Act, records or lists from the database and GIS layer should not be printed out and should be viewed on the screen only. Accessibility is restricted to viewing records only. Users are unable to edit or delete information. Access to the GIS Layer Where possible, site specific details for each record have been added to the MapExplorer directory M:\MapExplorer2\Shapefile_Data. The file is called CCRAPAS Dangerous Sites. Please ensure that you read the Page 4

5 accompanying Conditions of Use before accessing the GIS layer available to view at M:\MapExplorer2\Conditions_of_Use_Documents Access to records from members of the public An individual has the right to make a request under the Data Protection Act to see their record. Where this occurs, we will need to provide the details requested. In this case, the individual concerned needs to put their request in writing along with proof of their identity (copy of driving licence/passport and proof of address). Under section 10 of the Data Protection Act, individuals also have the right to issue a notice to us requesting that the information is removed as it is causing unwarranted damage or distress. If they are not satisfied with our reply they can then apply to a Court. We therefore need to be able to justify their presence on the Database, hence the importance of using the above policy consistently. Barry James Group Manager (Environmental Management) July 2008 Page 5