E-mail From Shane King St George's Healthcare NHS Trust Chief Engineer Detailing Failure To Comply With Vital Health & Safety Legislation
From:
Shane King
Sent:
21 June 2002 17:19
To:
Phil Sargeaunt
Cc:
Douglas Ward; Margaret Morrison; Ian Perkin; Paul Simpson; Ian Hamilton
Subject:
RE: Additional Cost Reduction Programme-Analyses of Risks
Phil,
I
have spoken to Douglas regarding the original schedule of savings detailed below
for Estates & Facilities:-
1.
"Reduce recurring maintenance to 2001/2 outturn levels £250,000"
2.
"Hold vacancies in Estates team
£50,000"
When
these potential savings were originally considered they would have
been "Full Year Effect" savings which if implemented in 2002/3 would
need to be pro rated down accordingly for the remainder of the financial year.
It
is my professional opinion that the potential recurring maintenance savings
should be considered as "Category
3+ High Risk savings", savings that may be achieved , but will need
significant management to deliver" (in accordance with Ian Hamiltons risk
assessment criteria).
The
directorate already have labour shortages in many key areas and find it
difficult to recruit "good quality staff". The freezing of staff
vacancies will therefore affect the Directorates ability to both effectively
manage various Capital Projects and deliver improvements on maintenance
activities. It is already acknowledged that there are "skill-mix / skill
deficiencies" within the maintenance team and a reduction in budgets will
almost certainly eliminate our staff training programme aimed at addressing this
issue.
As
you are aware Estates & Facilities have been subjected to continued Cost
Reduction Programmes over a number of years and a continuation of this trend
should be considered as VERY HIGH
RISK and would further jeopardise our ability to make any inroads into improving
the maintenance and reliability of the engineering plant, services and building
fabric of the hospitals estate and improved compliance with the plethora of
Statutory and Mandatory regulations.
If
the Trusts Senior Management consider that these costs reductions are to be
implemented they should only be made on a "one off basis". The budget
allocation for this year is not based on the actual 2001/02 outturn levels and
any level of cost reduction programme is not sustainable as the Trust is already
exposed to a number high level risks due to non compliance with statute.
Performance indicators from similar Trusts indicate that the maintenance
function is already below the average funding level and by reducing these
budgets the Trusts position will continue to deteriorate, the risks will
increase and could well lead to prosecution.
A
recent external Audit of Statutory and Mandatory Maintenance Health and Safety
Compliance. The draft report issued by NIFES Consulting has now been submitted. This
audit was undertaken to establish an independent baseline assessment of our
current position. Overall, NIFES view is that 6 out of 25 aspects of Health
& Safety Management are in place which equates to a numeric score of 24%.
Using "risk-weighted" evaluation measures an assessment of 33 -
35% is derived. This level of compliance is poor and highlights the significant
risk to which the Trust is already exposed, examples of limited/non-compliance
are as follows;
·
Health and
Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
·
Electricity at
Work Regulations 1989
·
Noise at Work
Regulations 1989
·
Workplace
(Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
·
Notification
of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992
·
Manual
Handling Operations Regulations 1992
·
Personal
Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
·
The
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994
·
Reporting of
Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
·
Gas Safety
(Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
·
Provision and
Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
·
Lifting
Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
·
Control of
Asbestos at Work (1987) + Amendment 1998
·
Fire
Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 + Amendment 1999
·
Control of
Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999
·
Management of
Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
·
Pressure
Systems Safety Regulations 2000
·
Various Health
Technical Memoranda Guidance i.e. Medical Gasses, Streilizers, Ventilation Plant
etc.etc.
In
an attempt to reduce the direct impact on the maintenance budget the Site
Services (Maintenance) department are considering the following initiatives:
·
The burning of
the Trusts standby fuel oil supplies instead of gas.
·
Conduct a
vigorous energy awareness and conservation campaign (improved housekeeping - ALL
TRUST STAFF).
·
Implement an
energy monitoring and targeting
programme (to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions).
·
Repairs to
plant to eradicate long term energy wastage.
·
Review of
plant operation (i.e. turn plant on and off in accordance with current staff
occupation)
·
Reduction in
overtime - blanket moratorium on overtime for new/improvements work.
·
All overtime
to be authorised by Senior Managers - for essential risk reducing maintenance
only.
·
Continued
evaluation of Best Value maintenance contracts.
·
Reduction in
the use of Agency Staff.
·
Changes to
working practices.
The
Trust is now experiencing an increasing number of examples of
the consequences of a failure to maintain the estate and operate safe
systems of work over recent years. Recent examples include;
·
Loss of
medical compressed air to Knightsbridge wing due to obsolete plant failure.
·
Oxygen supply
failure to Knightsbridge - inoperable alarm systems.
·
Electrical
distribution failures in Lanesborough and St James wing due to defective
obsolete switchgear.
·
Energy
inefficient operation of steam boiler plant due to poor/inoperable control
systems.
·
Overheating of
various areas due to cooling plant failures (Lanesborough Wing - 1 unit out of
service for approximately 5 years)
·
Lack of
heating/cooling control due to lack
of control systems (most areas).
·
Legionaella
problems in Knightsbridge Wing.
·
Cold water
main failure to Knightsbridge Wing.
·
Increasing
lift failures arising from lack of investment/upgrades.
·
Plant failures
- most plant is now reaching the end of its design working life and should be
considered for replacement.
·
PEAT Surveys -
redecoration programme required.
·
General
building repairs i.e. flooring and pavements etc.
·
Bolingbroke
Hospital - major refurbishment of all services required.
·
Increasing
number of roof leaks - impacting on patient activity and key departments
I
fully appreciate the financial difficulties the Trust face and the draconian
measure required to address them. If you require further information I suggest
you contact Douglas Ward, who will be back in the office next week. Please do
not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance in the meantime.
Thank
you.
Shane
King
Principal
Engineer
Tel.
0208 725 1832 (ext. 1832)
Fax. 0208 725 2148
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