Worrying rise in assaults on Stockton Council staff
Physical assaults on a council’s staff rose by more than a third in the space of 12 months.
There were 287 physical attacks reported to Stockton Council’s health and safety unit in 2022/23 compared to 214 over the course of the previous year, an increase of more than 34%.
A report for the council’s audit and governance committee showed the majority occurred in children’s services – 236 – while 39 happened in council-maintained schools.
The remainder, 12 in total, were reported from the council’s adults and health department and in the community, environment and culture department.
A spokesman for the council said a prominent factor in the increase had been one individual with very complex needs, although he could not provide any more details.
Two assaults were serious enough to warrant the council reporting them to the Health and Safety Executive.
Legislation requires certain incidents to be reported to the HSE for instance where an employee is absent from work for more than seven days due to an injury being sustained, or they are taken to hospital for treatment as a result of a work-related activity.
Meanwhile, the report showed there was also a rise in accidents reported by council staff in 2022/23 from 106 in the previous year to 135, a 27% increase.
Council leader Bob Cook said: “Reporting incidents helps improve our risk assessments as we are always looking at how we can ensure the risk of an incident happening is as low as possible.
“We encourage staff to report any incidents, which helps ensure the necessary support is in place for employees, clients and their families moving forward.”
Cllr Cook said the local authority delivered a range of health and safety training for staff, which included the management of aggression, violent behaviour and general risk management.
More than 1,100 employees of the council attended health and safety courses in 2022/23, he added.
A number of referrals were also made by the council to various services aimed at maintaining good physical and mental health, to aid individuals’ recovery and for recuperation.
These resulted in 911 physiotherapy sessions being organised for staff in 2022/23, the council report showed.