Safety and security increased at Eco Depot

At next week's meeting of the Neighbourhood Services EMAP, Councillors will hear how significant changes are being made to improve the safety and security of staff and visitors at City of York Council's Eco Depot.

The new measures are being made in light of the Freight Transport Association (FTA)'s review of safety and security at the Eco Depot, commissioned in June, and a further review following the theft of several Sat Navs in July.

There is a potentially high safety risk at the Eco Depot because vehicles, including many heavy commercial vehicles, move around the site close to pedestrian walkways, leading to a possible conflict particularly if people or vehicles move to parts of the site where they should not be.

To counter these potential risks, work has already been undertaken to improve signage and clarity of walkways, slow traffic, extend site rules and (where practical) place physical barriers between pedestrians and vehicles at key points.

The issues of security and safety at the Eco Depot are closely linked; improving safety will help improve the related issue of security. Increased security will reduce levels of risk to health and safety by reducing the likelihood of visitors wandering round the site without clear understanding of the dangers of the Eco Depot, as a busy working site.

Currently there is a perimeter fence around the Eco Depot site which is secured at night with the buildings on the site secured using a key card system. A Night Service Co-ordinator is on site every night from 4.30pm to 8am, and during weekends for out of hours business and to help with security.

The FTA's assessment highlighted uncontrolled access to the site as a major risk and gave the highest priority to introducing measures to control access. Currently there is no barrier stopping vehicles or pedestrians entering or leaving the Eco Depot.

A new system of reporting anonymous concerns about health and safety across the whole Neighbourhood Services Directorate was launched earlier this year.

Cllr Reid, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: "This new system has found a number of site safety issues at the Eco Depot. Listening to staff who work at the Eco Depot and who can highlight where safety and security risks are most prominent, is the best way to flag up concerns."

Following the recent reviews, several measures have been - or will be - put in place to improve safety and security, and include:

Ø A temporary Portakabin gatehouse - this has been put in place whilst a bid of £250k has been made to build a permanent gatehouse (for the medium term) and customer/visitor reception area near the entrance, to stop visitors on foot or in vehicles entering the site and having to travel across the site from the entrance gate to the current reception area

Ø Card operated vehicle barriers - these will be put in place to control access to the car park behind the Eco Depot and to the main site. This will require visitors to enter the reception area to be told where to park.

Ø An intercom for use by visitors - this will be connected into the new reception

Ø A full review of signage - this will be carried out and put in place once the entry barriers are installed. A lot of new signs have already been put up over the last couple of years.

Ø A new speed limit of 10mph - this will replace the current limit of 5mph which is regarded as an unrealistic speed at which to control vehicles, and a radar gun will be used to enforce this

Ø Improved procedures for wearing high visibility clothing - this has been enforced

Ø CCTV cameras - these will be relocated to improve visibility, and additional cameras are being considered

Ø Tighter procedures for locking up - these have already been put in place by each department to improve vehicle security by locking the areas where work orders are issued to staff from 5pm each day and introducing key card access

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, Cllr Ann Reid, said, "The health and safety of all users of the Eco Depot - staff and visitors alike - is an important issue for Neighbourhood Services. I look forward to the Council building on the security and safety measures already in place at the Eco Depot by introducing a range of new measures. There have only been a small number of transport related accidents on the site since December, none of them serious, but it is important that we do something to control access, as otherwise a potentially high risk factor remains."