Hammersmith and Fulham Council is taking steps to improve safety across its operations, including implementing a new fleet safety system and addressing violence and aggression in library buildings.
The Corporate Health and Safety Annual Update 2024/25, presented at the Audit Committee meeting on Monday, highlighted the implementation of Mentor by eDriving, which went live in August 2025. The report detailed the council's broader health and safety management arrangements, activities, and performance for the financial year. The full report is available in the Public reports pack 01st-Dec-2025.
Ian Church, Assistant Director, Corporate Property and Health & Safety, presented the report, noting that there were no enforcement actions taken against the council by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) during 2024/25. He also noted a slight improvement in RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) reporting, with seven reports compared to eight in the previous year. To sustain these improved reporting rates and further reduce workplace incidents, the council is:
- Investigating all incidents reportable to the HSE and making recommendations to prevent recurrence.
- Requiring services to review risk assessments.
- Investigating near misses to drive immediate improvements and lessons learned.
- Providing training to staff on how to record incident information on the AssessNET Health and Safety software system.
- Offering Fire Marshal training and Conflict Management training to front-line teams.
The report also addressed violence and aggression in library buildings, which continues to be an area of focus. Reported incidents increased from 55 in 2023/24 to 76 in 2024/25. While the specific types of violence and aggression were not detailed, verbal threats to staff remain an ongoing issue. Mr. Church suggested the increase in reported incidents was due to better reporting and engagement with library staff. To address this, measures being taken include:
- Physical security at the Westfield Library.
- Fulham and Hammersmith Libraries now being connected to the central CCTV system.
- Conflict Management training for staff, with further training planned.
- Reviewing the physical layouts of library buildings to improve sight lines and visibility of customer behaviour by front desk staff, which would improve control.
- Revising the library byelaws governing access to the library service and the procedure for banning individuals.
- Improving communication between staff at different sites to raise awareness of individuals who have caused concern.
The council is also working to improve data collection for trend analysis to identify incident types, triggers, and potential root causes.
