Decision
Analysis
outcome: Recommendations Approved
summary: The decision maker has decided to approve recommendations for the Council's health and safety work in 2025/26.
topline: The Council has approved recommendations to enhance health and safety for its workforce in 2025/26.
reason_contentious: This issue is not particularly contentious as it focuses on improving health and safety for the Council's workforce.
affected_stakeholders: ["Council's workforce", "Health and Safety Committee members"]
contentiousness_score: 2
political_party_relevance: There are no mentions or implications of political parties or political influence on the decision.
URL: https://democracy.runnymede.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1763
Decision Maker:
Outcome: Recommendations Approved
Is Key Decision?: No
Is Callable In?: No
Purpose:
Content: The Committee received for information what was agreed to be a detailed and positive summary of the Council’s work in Health and Safety for 2025/26. The Committee recalled that the Health and Safety Governance structure was introduced in 2024, and continued to provide a clear model to manage workforce health and safety. Officers highlighted the achievements made during the year as part of the workforce health and safety action plan. These included the introduction of a health and safety channel in Teams to promote cross-departmental working and collaboration, and a review of several health and wellbeing related policies and procedures to bring these up to date with changing legislation and promote consistency of application across the organisation. Members noted that there had been an increase in aggressive incidents towards staff. As a result, reporting concerns as well as ‘near misses’ was widely promoted and facilitated by Teams, GPS, and use of QR codes. The Committee was informed about ‘Belong@Runnymede’, and the Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and wellbeing annual programme. These were introduced to raise awareness of staff wellbeing. Since their launch, the Council had participated in a full calendar of events; more than one or two events every month. Officers clarified that ‘Blue Monday’ had been translated into ‘Brew Monday’ where free tea and coffee was available for staff, proving an opportunity to make time to talk informally, thus combating the effects of the third Monday in January, which was widely recognised to be the ‘saddest day of the year’. Tackling stress continued to be a priority for the Safety Committee and departmental Leads; understanding the causes, and the relation between personal stress and how work pressures could exacerbate the situation. Officers advised that the Action Plan for 2026/27 included a review of data, monitoring training and refreshers, and continuing to embed good practice in health and safety. Members were assured that Local Government Re-organisation would not affect the programme nor the Council’s commitment to health and safety. The Committee agreed that the health, safety and wellbeing of the Council’s workforce was integral to how well the Council performed. Officers were thanked for their report which was duly noted.
Date of Decision: July 15, 2026