Napo reps attended a pan CRC health and safety meeting with PF in April to discuss their plans for workplace safety, including moving towards applying for a safety charter mark 18001. Napo is supportive of their ambitions so long as this is not just a tick box exercise which does nothing to address the hazards PF staff face on a daily basis.

In addition to presentations on the charter, there were workshops on issues such as planning for “New Ways of Working”, looking at Estate Moves, Lone Workers and Health
and Wellbeing – Supporting stress in the workplace. Napo has written a response to PF’s “New Ways of Working” and Estates Strategy reminding them of their responsibility to provide safe ways of working and the associated legislation.

Following a Napo request PF have set up a Workloads Management Tool working group at which the trade union side are represented.

PF gave a presentation at the May TU forum meeting of their wellbeing strategy and said that across the Interserve empire, levels of absence are highest in their justice sector. We listened politely to their presentation and concluded this section of the meeting by saying that until the workplace issues that caused sickness were addressed there would continue to be high levels of sickness.