annual health and safety report giving clear direction

Annual health and safety reportGiving clear direction

2014

Summary statement from the COO

Eversheds is committed to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of its employees, so far as reasonably practical. Nothing we do is so important or urgent that our people should ever work in unsafe conditions. The Eversheds Health and Safety Policy Statement commits us to maintaining the highest practical safety standards and promoting our employees’ health.

It is the duty of management to ensure that all processes and procedures of work are designed and maintained, to prioritise the health and safety of our employees and visitors/contractors whilst working in or visiting our premises.

We continually strive to improve the health and safety culture at our firm so that we progressively improve protection for our own employees, clients, visitors and contractors.

I am personally committed to the effective delivery and continual improvement of our health and safety framework. An embedded health and safety culture is not only good for our people, but also good for business.

Kathryn FlemingChief Operating Officer

Health and safety annual report 1

Introduction

This is the fourth annual health and safety report produced by Eversheds LLP. The report is a summary of health and safety activities, performance and progress from across the firm. The report covers the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014 and, where appropriate, comparisons have been made with previous years’ data.

Data on consultation are included in the report for the first time.

Eversheds’ environmental performance for 2014 is reported separately in the annual EMAS report.


Executive Summary

The health and safety performance of Eversheds continues to be of a high standard and the number of accidents and incidents remains at a low level. There were 2 RIDDOR reports during the year.

The firm’s health and safety culture has improved over the last year, with significant commitment to personal development in this area increasing. This is shown in the number of health and safety training courses attended as well as the number of online health and safety modules completed and the number of health and safety meetings attended.

The policies and systems in place have enabled the firm to either gain or retain several health and safety awards and certifications during 2014, and the objectives set for 2015 reflect the firm’s commitment to ensuring future continual improvement in this field.


Business Activities

Eversheds LLP is one of the world’s largest full service international law firms with over 40 offices across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The firm provides services to the private and public sector business and finance community. Eversheds combines local market knowledge and access with the specialisms, resources and international capability of one of the world’s largest law firms. We have four main practice groups: company commercial, human resources, litigation and dispute management, and real estate. The industry sectors we advise include aerospace, defence and security, education, energy, financial institutions, food and drink, healthcare, central and local government, retail, telecoms and transport.


Health and Safety Policy Statement

Eversheds is committed to high standards of health and safety management. The responsibility for establishing and maintaining policies on health, safety and environmental matters lies with the Executive of Eversheds LLP.

However, we all have a personal responsibility for observing safety policies, rules and procedures.

Ensuring safety awareness, positive attitudes and continual improvement in safety performance requires the commitment and active involvement of all Partners, managers, employees and regular contractors at all levels.

It is our policy to maintain high standards of health and safety management and to encourage everyone to contribute to their own welfare and that of their colleagues and others affected by our activities.

Effective health and safety management improves safety performance and reduces work related injuries and ill health. Therefore, so far as is reasonably practicable, part of our objectives are to avoid accidents, injuries and ill-health to our people, and to prevent damage to property and to conserve the environment.

To achieve this we are committed to the following principles:

• establishing arrangements for the effective organisation, planning, monitoring and reviewing of health and safety policies and procedures

• setting ourselves challenging targets and objectives to ensure continual improvement in standards of health and safety management

• communicating the above to all managers, employees and regular contractors through regular updates and meetings

• complying with relevant health and safety legislation and other requirements

• encouraging the use of industry best practices wherever reasonably practicable.

This Health & Safety Policy Statement, our Safety Management System and our objectives and targets will be regularly reviewed to ensure that they continue to improve safety performance and reduce work related injuries and ill health.

Eversheds LLP will continue to raise and maintain awareness of this policy through guidelines, internal communications and staff training and will ensure it is available to internal and external parties through our intranet and website.

Bryan HughesChief ExecutiveApril 2014


Health and safety management system

Our Health and Safety Management System (HSMS) was recertified to OHSAS 18001 in August 2013 for our UK offices (Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham).

The firm is committed to continually improving its health and safety performance, and as such the structure of the HSMS is constantly under review and revised as appropriate.

The key elements of our HSMS are:

• a health and safety policy

• a register of health and safety legislation that is relevant to our business which is reviewed on an annual basis (available on request)

• regular internal and external audits to ensure the system is maintained and areas for improvement are identified and actioned

• regular health and safety management meetings which review and revise current performance, objectives and targets.

Progress against health and safety plans/objectives

All health and safety targets and objectives were monitored throughout the year with progress reported at the quarterly Health and Safety Steering Committee meetings.

The majority of targets and objectives were met and those that were not met have been carried forward to 2015.


Regulator inspections and visitsNo office was inspected by an enforcement agency during 2014.

Accidents and incidentsNumber of accidents

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Birmingham 7 5 1 4 7

Cambridge 8 5 0 2 5

Cardiff 19 9 12 1 6

Edinburgh 0 0 0 0 0

Ipswich 3 5 0 0 0

Leeds 6 12 1 5 6

London 18 9 11 2 4

Manchester 10 1 0 3 1

Newcastle 13 0 5 3 1

Nottingham 3 3 3 4 4

Total 87 49 33 24 34

RIDDOR 2 0 0 3 2

Number of incidents

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Birmingham 3 1 1 2 2

Cambridge 0 0 1 2 1

Cardiff 13 37 24 2 5

Edinburgh 0 0 0 1 0

Ipswich 1 1 0 0 0

Leeds 8 6 3 4 5

London 6 28 18 3 2

Manchester 0 0 2 2 3

Newcastle 3 9 4 1 0

Nottingham 0 3 2 1 0

Total 34 85 55 19 18



The largest category of accidents was minor cuts (14 cases), followed by scalds (seven) and impact with stationary and/ or moving items (three each). Investigation found that the main causes of these accidents were:

• Minor cuts – minor paper and cardboard cuts due to handling large volumes of paper, and catering injuries.

• Scalds – pouring, spilling or splashing hot water or soup onto hands.

• Impact with a stationary item or moving item – looking in the opposite way to direction of travel or being hit by falling items.

The following graphs shows the breakdown of accidents in the UK offices during 2014:

There were two reportable accidents or incidents during 2014. These were:

1. A member of staff was hit by a car when crossing the road, on her way back from a client meeting.

2. A member of staff was diagnosed with tendonitis (a work-related reportable disease).

Since 2010 accidents and incidents have been reported separately (incidents include administering first aid for persons who become unwell, but do not have an accident, near misses and property damage). The number of incidents in 2011 and 2012 were high, primarily due to numerous ill health incidents.

Fire statistics 2014During 2014 there were 10 unplanned fire alarm actuations on site (UK offices), compared to 12 in 2013, 7 in 2012, 12 in 2011 and 23 in 2010.

The causes of the actuations were as follows:

0

5

10

15

20

25

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Strain/ sprain, 1

Minor cuts, 14

Li3ing injury, 1 Scalds/ burns, 7

Slips, trips and falls on the same level, 3

Crush, 1

Impact with staDonery, 3

Impact with a moving object, 3


2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Accidental breakage of break glass 3 1 0 2 3

Catering 6 4 3 4 2

Contractors 0 2 1 0 0

Dust 0 0 1 0 1

Electrical fault 2 0 0 1 0

Malicious 1 1 0 0 0

Miscellaneous 1 0 0 1 0

Smoking 0 1 0 0 0

Steam/aerosol spray 2 0 0 0 0

System fault 8 2 2 3 4

Water leak 0 1 0 1 0

Total 23 12 7 12 10

TrainingAll new members of staff continue to complete an online health, safety and environmental induction. In addition, all new starters must complete three online safety modules – display screen equipment, manual handling and fire safety.

The number of floor marshals continues to be suitable and sufficient – with training and adequate cover provided in all UK offices.

The number of first aiders per office also continues at an appropriate level. Internal refreshers are provided in each UK office on a quarterly basis, and information sheets are circulated each month on a different first aid topic.

In total, 550 health and safety courses were attended, compared with 419 in 2013 and 301 in 2012.

Type of training Total

BIFM Understanding & Managing Building Services 1 2 2 0 0 2 4 1 2 1 15

CIEH Manual handling training Level 2 7 2 7 0 2 8 6 0 4 5 41

Defibrillator training 8 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 13

Disability communication training - internal 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 5

DSE Assessor Training 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2

Emergency spill response training 4 5 10 0 1 6 8 2 5 3 44

Epilepsy awareness 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 9

Evac Chair training 0 0 2 0 0 24 0 0 0 5 31

First aid course - external 4 4 4 1 1 6 3 4 2 1 30

First aid course - internal 11 13 32 1 2 19 7 6 11 6 108

Floor marshal training - online 36 7 29 1 0 19 27 8 10 4 141

Floor marshal training – face to face 4 14 0 0 3 6 0 16 12 9 64

IEMA auditing course 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5

IOSH Managing Safely 2 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 9

Legionella awareness 1 2 3 0 0 8 6 2 4 1 27

Understanding dyslexia in the workplace 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 4

Visual awareness training 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

Total 80 51 91 3 9 116 70 40 53 37 550

Birmingham

Cam

bridge

Cardiff

Edinburgh

Ipsw

ich

Leeds

London

Manchester

New

castle

Nottingham


Online trainingCompletion rates for all three online health and safety modules rose during 2014.

The following offices either maintained 100% or increased their completion ratesthroughout the year:

DSE module: Beijing and Ipswich

Manual handling module: Beijing, Ipswich and Singapore

Fire safety module: Doha, Edinburgh, Ipswich and Singapore

Significant progress in completing the modules for existing staff was made in most other offices. Senior management support will remain essential to ensure the outstanding training is completed.

DSE Fire Safety Manual Handling

Number outstanding

% Completed

Number outstanding

% Completed

Number outstanding

% Completed

Abu Dhabi 0 100.0% 0 100.0% 0 100.0%

Amman 14 48.1% 14 46.2% 14 48.9%

Baghdad 1 75.0% 1 75.0% 1 75.0%

Beijing 0 100.0% 0 100.0% 0 100.0%

Birmingham 89 78.2% 38 90.6% 67 83.5%

Cambridge 8 93.0% 4 96.4% 6 94.9%

Cardiff 7 98.5% 5 98.9% 6 98.7%

Doha 1 92.9% 0 100.0% 0 100.0%

Dubai 5 78.3% 4 81.0% 4 82.6%

Edinburgh 2 83.3% 2 83.3% 1 91.7%

Hong Kong 31 59.2% 28 56.9% 28 63.2%

Ipswich 0 100.0% 0 100.0% 0 100.0%

Leeds 48 89.3% 27 93.9% 36 91.9%

London 103 81.1% 91 83.0% 123 77.4%

Manchester 41 84.6% 31 88.3% 48 82.1%

Newcastle 0 100.0% 0 100.0% 0 100.0%

Nottingham 4 94.3% 3 95.2% 3 95.5%

Paris 64 36.0% 49 46.2% 56 44.6%

Riyadh 20 16.7% 20 16.7% 20 16.7%

Shanghai 1 92.9% 0 100.0% 0 100.0%

Singapore 0 100.0% 0 100.0% 2 88.9%

Total 439 83.9% 317 88.1% 412 84.8%

DSE Fire Safety Manual Handling

2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013

Previous completion rates

73.4% 79.0% 81.0% 74.9% 82.0% 87.7% 77.7% 83.3% 84.6%

ConsultationQuarterly Health, Safety and Environmental Committee meetings were held in all UK offices. Attendance levels were as follows:

Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Birmingham 15 22 19 22

Cambridge 17 8 8 9

Cardiff 10 11 8 21

Ipswich 3 3 4 6

Leeds 10 16 8 10

London 20 19 16 5

Manchester n/a n/a 10 7

Newcastle/ Edinburgh

13 10 6 11

Nottingham 8 9 9 8

Health and wellbeingThe annual sickness absence across the firm was 3.72 days per full time equivalent (FTE) in 2014 compared with 4.43 in 2013.

DisabilityIn 2014 Eversheds founded the Inter Law Firm forum on disabilities. The forum meets on a quarterly basis and aims to share best practice and improve the experiences of colleagues, clients and visitors within law firms.

Disability standardThe firm completed the Business Disability Forum’s Disability Standard in 2014 achieving a 39 percentage point increase on its previous submission. The Standard comprises the following 10 criteria: commitment, know how, adjustments, recruitment, retention, products and services, suppliers and partners, communication, premises, and information and communication technology (ICT).

Since the firm’s first submission in 2012, senior stakeholders have been identified for each of the criteria and steps taken to continually improve the firm’s disability capability. The firm aims to improve upon its 2014 score in 2015.


RoSPA gold awardThe proactive approach of the health and safety team was rewarded with a fifth Gold Award by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). As this was the fifth consecutive award, the firm was awarded a gold medal. In achieving the award the firm had to demonstrate:

• An excellent occupational health and safety management system and culture.

• High levels of compliance with control measures.

• No fatal or major injuries due to employer negligence.

• Below sector average accidents and incidents.

CHASThe UK offices maintained their CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) registration. CHAS is a non-commercial scheme available to suppliers and buyers looking for suitably competent suppliers, and is a pre-requisite for work for some clients.

OHSAS 18001The UK offices retained certification to OHSAS 18001- a health and safety management standard.

The firm’s health and safety management system was reviewed and revised, and each office in the UK was audited internally.

Key projects for 2014The main projects that the health and safety team worked on during 2014 were:

• Retaining certification to OHSAS 18001 - attained.

• Continuing to work at aligning our non-UK offices with UK H&S best practice - ongoing.

• Continuing to improve completion rates of the e-learning modules – attained.

• Completing the Disability Standard and improving the firm’s disability confidence - attained.

• Delivering health and safety training in line with the needs of the business and reviewing each course to ensure objectives are being met - attained.

• Continuing with the rolling programme to review existing health and safety policies, guidance and procedures in relation to legislation and best practice - attained.

• Maintenance of the RoSPA Gold Award - attained.

Key projects for 2015The main projects that the health and safety team will be working on during 2015 are:

• Retaining certification to OHSAS 18001, CHAS and the RoSPA Gold Award.

• Attaining a British Safety Council Award.

• Improving the firm’s Disability Standard score.

• Improving completion rates of the three e-learning modules in all offices.


Further information

For further information, please contact Claire Goody:

Claire GoodyEnvironment, Health and Safety [email protected]


annual health and safety report giving clear direction

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