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Health

Health and Safety Policy

It is the Company’s policy to do everything possible to protect the health and safety of our colleagues and visitors. At the same time, all colleagues have a duty to take a responsible attitude to their own health and safety, and to that of their colleagues at work.

We therefore have a joint responsibility to:

  • Provide and maintain a safe and healthy working environment;
  • Ensure that first aid facilities are available, and that accidents are reported and recorded in the Accident Log;
  • Protect colleagues and non-employees from the effects of work activities;
  • Ensure that everybody is familiar with fire regulations and is fully informed of emergency evacuation procedures;
  • Ensure equipment is safe in normal use, is inspected regularly and colleagues are provided with information, instruction and supervision on its use;
  • Ensure that all colleagues take reasonable care of themselves, their colleagues and others.
  • To consult with colleagues on matters affecting health and safety; both full time colleagues including fieldworkers
  • To ensure all colleagues are competent to do their tasks, and to give them adequate training
  • To prevent accidents and cases of work-related ill health
  • To review and revise this policy annually.

Events

The company has organised hundreds of events since its formation, and rarely have threatening or abusive people attended that cannot be dealt with quickly and easily.

However, the principles that should be followed are as follows:

  1. Respect All Individuals’ Personal Space
  2. Be Aware of Your Own Body Position
  3. Keep Nonverbal Cues Nonthreatening
  4. Ignore Challenging Questions
  5. Permit Verbal Venting When Possible
  6. Stay Composed, Avoid Over-reacting
  7. Use Physical Techniques Only as a Last Resort.

Fieldwork

Our fieldworkers work outside the office every day. There are some basic health and safety guidelines that you and they should be aware of.

  • The Police must be informed for canvass work, especially outside London. The reference number must be given to the fieldworker.
  • The fieldworker must be briefed thoroughly on the location, any transport arrangements, and who will be in the team for that work. A map should be supplied to all fieldworkers.
  • The fieldworker must know the number of the office, and the out-of-hours mobile number of the colleague briefing them
  • Each fieldworker should be contacted during and at the end of the day for a debrief.

Loan Working

Working alone is not limited to fieldworkers. All colleagues should have regard to their own safety when undertaking work alone. At a minimum, the following personal
safeguards should be in place.

  • Always make sure that your line manager or another colleague knows where you will be. If you make another appointment to visit a stakeholder, consultee etc, send an email/diary/SMS notification.
  • If you feel that your safety may be in danger or feel uncomfortable in any way, terminate the meeting. Log the incident with your line manager.
  • Consider installing a ‘Panic Button’ system on your smartphone.
  • Use safe transport at night. In London the Company has two cab accounts, Bolt and Uber. Have their details on your phone. Elsewhere, get a local cab number in advance.

First Aid and Procedure in the Event of an Accident

  • All offices are equipped with a First Aid box to assist with minor injuries. All offices have qualified First Aiders working at each site. There are ‘appointed persons’ for first aid within
    Thorncliffe, all of whom have attended training.
  • If an accident or dangerous occurrence takes place, you should immediately contact the
    First Aider.
  • In any event, the injured person should be attended to and an Accident/Incident Report Form completed.
  • If the First Aider is unavailable please contact the NHS Direct helpline (0845 4647) for advice, or alternatively, dependent on the seriousness of the incident, contact the local Emergency Services (999 or 112). If possible, the injured person should enter details in the accident book without delay; if not, the accident book entry should be written by someone who witnessed the accident.
  • Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995, Richard Patient is required to report to the Health and Safety Executive if anyone suffers a major injury due to an accident connected to work at Thorncliffe. If anyone istaken to hospital for treatment of an injury connected to work at Thorncliffe, or there is a dangerous occurrence, a report also needs to be made.

Emergency Evacuation; including fire

  • It is important that you should make yourself aware of the location of the fire exits and fire extinguishers.
  • Equally, do ensure that you are familiar with the evacuation procedure which relates to a fire or bomb emergency. Evacuation details and emergency routes are posted on the back of all doors.
  • PLEASE REMEMBER: If you discover a fire, your prime consideration must be to safeguard life. You should activate the fire alarms and alert colleagues immediately. DO NOT attempt to tackle the fire. DO NOT stop to collect belongings and DO NOT re-enter the building until you have been advised that it is safe to do so.

This policy has been reviewed by Thorncliffe Management in February 2025, and will be subject to review in February 2027.

It will be championed by all senior management, led by Matt Harmer and Deborah Paterson.

Richard Patient