Strategy Goal Theme One is to encourage strong leadership in championing the importance of, and a common sense approach to, health and safety in the workplace.
What this means for local government:
- Senior officers and elected members are aware of their responsibilities for health and safety, which are considered in strategic decision making.
- Senior officers and elected members champion the importance of, and a sensible approach to health and safety and risk management in the workplace and in the delivery and contracting of services. This provides the basis for developing a culture that supports a balanced yet effective approach to managing health and safety risks in delivering local government services.
Additional resources and guidance include:
- The Local Authority Effective Leadership Goal Evaluation Matrix
- Leading health and safety at work Forward Plan
- Links to other relevant guidance on health and safety leadership.
The Local Authority Effective Leadership Goal Evaluation Matrix
A more detailed self-evaluation matrix is provided to assist councils in considering their performance in securing effective leadership. This is based on a document developed and used by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, which was taken from the Institute of Directors and HSC guidance booklet INDG 147, ‘Leading health and safety work'.
Leading health and safety work – PDF on the HSE website
This matrix provides a useful tool to help councils consider the headline factors for effective leadership and benchmark their performance against the good practice standards described.
The tool can be used to record and monitor performance and a separate forward plan template is provided to help councils plan the actions needed to secure effective leadership and a positive health and safety culture. Councils can also use the matrix to benchmark performance against other authorities.
Leading Health and Safety at Work Forward plan
Having assessed performance on effective leadership the Leading Health and Safety at Work Forward Plan template is provided to help councils plan, monitor and record the actions needed to secure effective leadership and a positive health and safety culture.
Sources of other relevant guidance on health and safety leadership
The following are sources of guidance that local authorities might find helpful when considering what effective leadership and a positive safety culture will look like in the authority and what action may be needed to secure this.
‘Leading health and safety at work' – on the HSE website
‘Think about health and safety – What elected members need to know', online booklet
‘Think about health and safety – What elected members need to know', online presentation
HSE's website contains general information about leading on health and safety:
Leading Health and Safety at Work – on the Health and Safety Executive website
Leadership in local government – on the Health and Safety Executive website