Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to comply with principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport adopts smart working principles ensuring its workplaces are designed appropriately for the intended tasks. Each of its offices has a balanced mix of workspaces and considers accessibility for colleagues with additional needs.
Workplace adjustments are used to remove barriers, or disadvantages, enabling anyone with a disability or health condition to do their job. This can be a change to HR-related policies, working arrangements or the equipment provided to do a job.
Office workstations are provided with a varying range of adjustable equipment designed to cater for the majority of individuals.
For operational areas of the organisation, risk assessment processes are in place to assess the varying range of tasks and reduce health and safety risks to our colleagues.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to comply with principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
On joining DWP, all members of staff must complete a DSE assessment, which will highlight any special requirements specific to their role. Members of staff are then required to revisit this assessment every 3 years or at any time their circumstances change.
DWP endeavours to provide a contemporary and safe working environment, which meets the requirements of the Approved Documents (Building Regulations) in England and their equivalents in the devolved nations. We also follow the guiding principles of a variety of government specifications e.g. Publicly Available Specification 3000 for ‘Smart Working’ (PAS300), which recommends the use of a range of different work settings throughout a typical day to encourage movement, collaboration, and wellbeing. As well as the Government Property Agency’s Workplace Design Guidance.
The Department also has a Reasonable Adjustment Process for complex needs. This can include changes to the physical environment, alternative working patterns, or changes to work tasks.
Any changes to the way people are expected to work that might introduce significant new risk are identified and their impact considered against existing DWP health and safety policies and procedures.
DWP Health and Safety Impact Assessments are designed to give step by step support to programmes and projects who may introduce new risk. They provide a framework to help identify hazards and who might be harmed and enables DWP to record what needs to be done to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. It is mandatory for use by new programmes and projects with managers consulting with Trade Union representatives during the process.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to comply with principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a Health and Safety and Fire Management system within which risk assessments are conducted and reviewed appropriately for our buildings and people.
The Home Office complies with all UK Health, Safety and Fire Safety statutory provisions proportionate and relevant to its undertaking including principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The control measures in said risk assessments apply the principle of prevention using the hierarchy of controls e.g. elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, health surveillance and the issue of personal protective equipment.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to comply with principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Business and Trade ensures compliance with this principle through the delivery of the following;
Provision of workplaces and equipment that comply with applicable legislation and standards. Arrangements that ensure any colleagues that may require workplace, equipment, or procedural adaptations are assessed and acted on, where reasonably practicable
HR line manager arrangements that ensure stimulating and engaging objectives are set, and flexible work arrangements that offer colleagues flexibility in how they work and deliver their tasks.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to comply with principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office is fully compliant with principle (d) of schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The Cabinet Office designs work and workplaces to adapt to the needs of individuals. The majority of our Estate has modern, flexible, ergonomic workplaces to accommodate individuals’ requirements.
The Cabinet Office has a major transformation programme, Building A Better Cabinet Office (ABCO) and over the last few years has implemented improvements in workplaces and technology to provide modern, flexible working environments for our people. These improvements include, for example, the modernisation & refurbishment of furniture at London: 1 Horse Guards Road, Newcastle: Benton Park View and York: Imphal Barracks and also the move to new accommodation in Glasgow and in York. These sites now provide access to a series of working environments, including desks, collaborative working spaces and meeting rooms.
The Cabinet Office has a comprehensive framework to ensure individuals who have any additional requirements are not disadvantaged and are adequately supported to have the appropriate workplace adjustments in place.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Health and safety risk assessments have been undertaken in all Department for Business and Trade offices. Staff are advised to complete individual risk assessments if they regularly work from other workplaces, including home locations.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department works with the Government Property Agency, who acts as landlord for the Department’s estate, to ensure that all workplaces and buildings its staff occupy have a sufficient risk assessment.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All buildings occupied by the department have suitable and sufficient risk assessments in place as per the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requirements.
Where the Government Property Agency are the asset owners, they also maintain building risk assessments.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department currently occupies 22 buildings which the Government Property Agency manages on a day to day basis on its behalf. GPA responsibilities include ensuring that statutory health and safety requirements in relation to the buildings are met. GPA confirms that it has a comprehensive set of risk assessments for DLUHC buildings and therefore meets the requirements of regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
DLUHC itself is responsible for workplace risk assessments such as display risk assessments, lone working risk assessments, and travel risk assessments. DLUHC policy is for workplace risk assessments to be completed on a case by case basis, and Department staff routinely complete the assessments where they are required.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Northern Ireland Office is co-located in two locations in London and Belfast, and these sites are managed by other government departments.
The Northern Ireland Office follows Ministry of Justice policy, which complies with Health and Safety legislation. The Northern Ireland Office requires all its employees to undertake mandatory training in Health and Safety compliance, as well as workstation risk assessments for new starters, employees whose work environment changes, and in pregnancy.