Seven physical attacks were carried out on council staff by young people over the space of a 12-month period, figures show.

Redcar and Cleveland Council revealed the information in a health and safety performance summary for 2021/22.

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It recorded the attacks as accidents and said all involved children with special needs.

The summary described how in each case the assailant “had not made a conscious decision to assault the staff member”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the local authority for comment, specifically asking what it is doing to protect staff working in this area from the risk of attack and what support was given to those affected in this way.

More broadly, the council logged 65 accidents involving its employees in 2021/22, of which 55 were said to be ‘minor’ with 14 of those occurring in schools in the borough.

Eight further accidents were reported to the Health and Safety Executive since staff were forced to be off work for more than seven days, while two were reported since they represented major injuries.

The majority of accidents were due to slips, trips and falls (21) – 32 per cent of the overall total.

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In four cases individuals were exposed to or in contact with a harmful substance, while two accidents were said to be the result of being injured by an animal.

Meanwhile, November proved to be the most dangerous month for council employees, according to a breakdown of accident statistics issued in the summary.

The highest number of accidents during 2021/22 occurred in this month (12), followed by October and March, which had eight each.

The council’s health and safety team also described 35 “near miss occurrences”, although it was not explained what these involved.

 

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