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Officer safety


       ‘Officers have moral and legal



       duty to report near misses’




            olice officers must report any near   that could have resulted in injury, illness,   action may be taken, reporting a near miss
            misses to the Force to help prevent   damage or loss but did not due to chance,   can lead to that being put right before
       Pinjuries and serious incidents but   corrective action or timely intervention.  someone gets hurt.
       should not be afraid to do so, the Federation’s      Therefore any event or situation that does      “The Federation receives a weekly list of
       health and safety lead has stressed.  actually result in injury, illness, damage or   all the near misses reported and we raise our
          Deano Walker was speaking after a   loss is not a near miss and should be reported   concerns with the Force if necessary. One area
       Freedom of Information request by a media   as an accident or incident.  we are becoming increasingly concerned
       outlet revealed the Force made the largest      The Force has a legal duty as an employer   about is police buildings. The years of cuts to
       single compensation pay-out to an officer   to ensure the health, safety and welfare of   police budgets clearly saw many of our police
       injured in the line of duty paying more than   employees under the Health and Safety at   stations and other buildings closed but we
       £156,000 to an officer who fell from a stool or   Work 1974 but officers and staff are under an   also saw a lack of investment in those that
       chair.                              obligation to help prevent colleagues and   remained open and we are seeing some
          The figures also showed the Force spent a   visitors coming to harm at work.  accidents occur as a result. If you have a
       total of £258,568.49 on 73 compensation      “The most common submission we get   concern about the state of any police building
       claims between 2015 and 2019 with the   relates to minimum staffing levels but strictly   and you fear there could be an incident in
       majority being paid out due to slips, trip and   speaking this doesn’t really fall under the   which someone could get injured I would
       falls by officers and staff.        near miss criteria – though we do appreciate   urge you to report it.”
          “It is clearly in everyone’s interest to help   officers’ frustrations,” says Deano.     Other near miss examples include:
       the Force prevent injuries because behind      “An example of a near miss that we get   l  Premature failure of Airwave batteries
       each of these pay-outs there will be someone   most years is a shovel or grit being missing   l  Poor reception areas for Airwave or other
       who has been injured at work, perhaps with   from a grit bin. If you discover this is the case,   communication devices
       life-long effects, and who may have had to   you should report this since clearly in icy   l  PAVA leaks
       take time away from their job while they   conditions a lack of available grit or a means   l  PAVA, baton or other personal protection
       recovered,” says Deano.             of spreading it could lead to an incident in   equipment having no – or little – effect
          “So, while the figures show the monetary   which someone could be injured.  during a violent incident; if there is an
       value of the compensation, there will be the      “I don’t think anyone should assume   injury to an officer or staff, however, this
       added cost, physically and mentally, to those   someone else has reported these types of   should be recorded separately
       injured, and the knock-on effect in terms of   incidents and I also don’t think anyone should   l  Falling asleep at the wheel of a vehicle,
       people having to pick up extra work while   fear getting into trouble for raising an issue of   personal or police, on the way to work or
       someone is away from their role.”   concern. Everyone has a moral and legal duty   after the end of shift
          Officers and staff should record near   to highlight near misses and help prevent   l  Exposure to extremes of temperature or
       misses on the E-safety section of the Force   someone getting injured. A near miss could   bad weather on operations
       intranet but Deano says there can be some   be classed as an early warning that   l  Vehicle faults, such as engines cutting
       confusion as to what constitutes a near miss.  something is wrong.          out while being driven, brake failures or
          In very simple terms, a near miss can be      “If there is an accident, clearly an   vehicle fires.
       defined as an unplanned event or situation   investigation takes place and corrective































      www.polfed.org/westmids                                           federation February/March 2020      15
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