Vital city service needs a shake-up

Oct 1 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

A DISTINCT whiff of passing the buck and a culture of "not me, guv" pervades the story we run today about the short- comings of Liverpool city council’s occupational health service.

Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently visited the council and found it was not carrying out regular checks or screening to protect the health of its staff.

So serious has the situation become that the HSE has issued the local authority with an official notice to improve the service for its 19,000 staff, or face legal action.

OH Solutions, the company awarded the contract to run the council’s occupational health service, said apart from hearing tests for call centre workers, it was only contracted to provide services after an employee became ill or was injured.

Dr Mike Orton, medical director of OH Solutions, said it was Liverpool Direct Limited (LDL) that oversaw the contract tender, the interviews for it and the awarding of the contract. However, a council spokesman said that occupat- ional health has never been part of LDL.

This is not just an internal council matter – it is important for us all because the local authority, as one of the city’s largest employers, needs to set an example for other employers across the area, and also needs healthy staff.

A good start for the action plan now being drawn up by the authority would be to clear up the confusion that appears to exist about exactly what duties OH is expected to carry out.

Vigilance crucial

AT A time when airports continue to be on high alert for terrorist threats, it is deeply worrying to hear about an incident at Liverpool John Lennon airport in which a man was able to breach security and board a plane.

It highlights the fact that both staff and passengers need to be vigilant at all times – meanwhile, a full and frank inquiry needs to be held to establish exactly what did happen in this latest incident.