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Health and safety at court

Facility Management (FM) process (Back to top)

Court managers should have a monthly meeting with the HMCTS building champion and a check and test document is completed.

If the matters cannot be agreed or the repair request is ongoing for an unacceptable period, it should be escalated to the CDM/regional FM meeting for further discussion and resolution using the required meeting template.

Health and safety – general (Back to top)

All health and safety requirements are delivered through cooperation and collaboration between HMCTS, PECS and PECS suppliers.

Key areas that are jointly managed include, but are not limited to:

  • Fire safety, including HMCTS and supplier’s fire risk assessments, fire drills and evacuations, and consideration for evacuation of individuals with disabilities.
  • Facilities management, including planned preventative maintenance, PAT testing and reactive maintenance.
  • First Aid, including the provision of defibrillators and Naloxone.
  • HMCTS facility management of for example fire safety, asbestos, management of legionella, gas management and ionising radiation (including Radon).
  • Temperature management within custody suites.

There are established escalation routes within PECS and HMCTS. If you require any further assistance or information, please contact your regional PECS Contract Delivery Manager.

Temporary closure of custody suites/courts (Back to top)

Where it is deemed unsafe to operate a custody suite, or court, for health and safety reasons, it may be appropriate to close the facilities and divert those in custody to other courts or utilise remote video link facilities. Scenarios which may result in closures may include, but are not limited to:

  • Failure of fire detection/alarm systems.
  • Failure of affray alarms where no alternative safe systems of work can be implemented.
  • Issues with building ingress/egress where safe entry or evacuation cannot be supported.
  • Issues relating to flooding/sanitation.
  • Temperatures outside the optimum range (19-26 degrees Celsius).

There are well established escalation routes to manage any concerns which may result in closure, however only HMCTS in conjunction with PECS have the authority to make this decision.

Should you have any concerns please contact your regional contract delivery manager (or ‘on call’ CDM out of hours) immediately.