Harrow Council has been issued a notice of contravention by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) due to breaches in legionella control, it was revealed at a Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee (GARMS) meeting on Tuesday, 22 July 2025.
The contravention notice follows an incident at Glebe School, and highlights failures in adhering to COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations related to legionella. While the specific failures in legionella control are not detailed in the meeting summary, the notice indicates a clear breach of regulations.
During the meeting, Stacy Bailey, Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development, introduced the Annual Health and Safety Report for 2024-2025, with Clyde providing key highlights. Clyde noted that there were four RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) incidents, the same number as the previous year.
The report also highlighted a 16% decrease in reported incidents, which the council is hoping to improve with the Don't Ignore It, Report It
campaign. The campaign was launched to encourage staff to report incidents, and a banner promoting the campaign was displayed at the meeting.
Other key discussion points from the report included:
- Increased audits of schools and initiation of management audits.
- A new health and safety strategy for 2025-2028 has been consulted on and ratified. Future plans include management audits, risk assessment training, a training matrix for managers, and strategies to reduce sickness absence. More information may be found in the Annual Health and Safety Report for 2024-2025 and Appendix 3.
- Plans for management audits, risk assessment training, and strategies to reduce sickness absence.
Councillor Dean Gilligan asked about the rollout of improved lone working safety measures. The response indicated that the priority for the year was to focus on lone working, proactive initiatives to reduce exposure to violence and aggression, and providing training and tools to staff. The plan includes procuring a new provider or potentially the same provider for loan working fobs and rolling out more fobs to those at risk. This is this year's priority of the plan.
Councillor Dan Anderson enquired about fire risk assessment coverage. The response indicated that housing assets are fully compliant in terms of the number of fire assessments that are due and that fire assessments are not required annually but have a cycle of reviews. The specific concerns and the exact breakdown of the data were not provided, but it was offered to get that information for Councillor Anderson.
Councillor Kumaran asked about the asbestos arrangement review. The response indicated that the asbestos arrangements are currently being reviewed because the Health and Safety Executive notified all local authorities of their intention to inspect at some point this year. As good practice, the council is reviewing its policy and arrangements and doing some sample auditing of 40 buildings. The audit is looking at arrangements, asbestos surveys, re-inspections, and remediation works. The sampling is about halfway through and is expected to be completed in a couple of months.
Councillor Bharadia asked if the 16% reduction figure was a reduction in incidents or reporting. Clyde clarified that it was difficult to know for sure, but that the council had seen a spike in reporting in the areas that they focused their campaign on.
Councillor Anderson also asked about the lower uptake of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) compared to other London local authorities, and if there was a specific focus on incidents in schools and SCN transport.
The committee agreed to the recommendations set out on pages 190 of the agenda.
