Page 11 - West Midlands Police Federation: Here for you 2015

Health & Safety 2015 was a busy year for both the Force and the Federation. With the help and expertise of trained Health and Safety Federation representatives, a significant number of incidents were investigated and challenges overcome. Here is a flavour of what we were up to: Siren-less Corsa There was huge media attention around the use of the siren-less Corsa. The Federation had previously attempted to amend the thought process of the Force on this issue, through negotiation and influence. Unfortunately, there appeared to be a direction to increase the use of these vehicles and our representations were not being considered. The regional and national media attention firmly placed officers’ concerns to the forefront of the Force’s mind, as well as directing other forces to look at their own fleet. The Force has joined a number of others buying into a new vehicle contract. We are still unclear as to how they will impact on our vehicle fleet but we hope there will be a move away from using siren-less vehicles for general patrol duties. Body armour The committee is awaiting the results of the Force uniform and equipment survey. We successfully negotiated to have the body armour questions included in the survey as the Force does recognise this is an issue for a large number of officers. It is hoped that the survey data will help in our negotiations with the Force and allow us to address officers’ concerns effectively. I now sit on the NPCC (formerly ACPO) sub-group for body armour and hope to influence body armour design in the future. Advice has been issued regarding what to do with ill-fitting armour. If you have not seen this, please contact your local rep. Major events The Federation rolled out Tea Pot One, and on occasions Tea Pot Two, at large events. These are a welcome addition to the deployment plan, and allow officers to get a much needed brew and a snack as well as meet Fed reps and discuss any issues. Another addition to major event planning is the partnership working of the Federation Health and Safety Committee and the Force Health and Safety team. At each major event last year, we ensured that a member from each group was present on the ground, liaising with troops and feeding back any H & S concerns to the event control suite. The Force has since seen a marked reduction in complaints from officers. Assaults on Police Since 2014, the Force and the Federation have seen a significant increase in the number of officers being assaulted while on duty. The Force has set up a group to monitor officer assaults, develop strategies on how to support these officers and primarily reduce this increasing number. The group has met three times so far, and a number of work strands have been developed. 11