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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 5 April 1990
HOUSE OF COMMONS
First Aid
Mr. Strang : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many staff in the House of Commons have first aid or medical training ; how many of these staff are available in the case of accidents ; and where these staff are located.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : Fifty members of staff of the House, 127 police officers, 108 security officers and 12 members of the fire section are trained in first aid including resuscitation techniques. Quotas of staff from all Departments of the House have been agreed bearing in mind the need to provide cover in the outbuildings as well as having first aiders available by day and night. Their location is shown in the green page supplement in the front of the Palace of Westminster telephone directory.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Lord President of the Council what first aid provision is provided by the House ; what form this takes ; where such provision is located ; and what first aid information is made available to the staff who work in the House and its outbuildings.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : Details of first aid provision and procedures to be followed in an emergency are contained in the leaflet "Medical Facilities and First Aid in the Palace of Westminster and in the Parliamentary Outbuildings" issued jointly by the Serjeant at Arms and Black Rod. I am arranging for a copy to be sent to the hon. Gentleman. Notices indicating the location of first aiders and first aid boxes are displayed in the Palace of Westminster and outbuildings, and details of first aid and medical facilities are given in appendix D of the staff handbook which is issued to all members of staff.
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Toilets
Mr. Strang : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many toilets are provided (a) in the House and (b) in each of its outbuildings, (i) for women and (ii) for men ; and if he will estimate separately the number of women and the number of men who work in these buildings with easy access to these toilet facilities.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : The information requested is as follows :
Number of Lavatories
Location |Male |Female |Mixed |Disabled
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Palace of Westminster
(Commons Area) |55 |34 |7 |1
Norman Shaw North |11 |9 |- |1
Norman Shaw South |9 |8 |3 |-
St. Stephens House |8 |8 |5 |-
1 Canon Row |8 |7 |- |1
3 Deans Yard |5 |7 |- |-
6-7 Old Palace Yard |2 |2 |1 |-
2 The Abbey Garden |3 |4 |- |-
I regret that an estimate of the numbers of women and men with access to these facilities could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Accidents
Mr. Strang : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will state the number of reported accidents in (a) the Palace of Westminster and (b) its outbuildings for each year over the last 10 years for (i) hon. Members, (ii) hon. Members' staff, (iii) staff employed by the House in administration, (iv) staff employed by the House in catering, (v) staff employed by the House for other services, (vi) outside contractors and (vii) members of the general public ; how many people work at the House and its outbuildings in each category ; and what is the number of visitors from the general public each year.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : The information requested is as follows :
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|1980|1981|1982|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989
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(a) Palace of Westminster-reported accidents
Members |n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|3 |- |1 |2
Members' staff |n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|- |1 |1 |2
Administration
department's staff |n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Refreshment
department's staff |15 |44 |26 |34 |47 |29 |31 |20 |25 |66
Other departments' staff |n.a.|19 |13 |11 |9 |13 |14 |7 |7 |19
Outside contractors |n.a.|2 |3 |1 |- |- |- |1 |1 |3
General public |n.a.|22 |29 |20 |22 |35 |18 |14 |8 |12
(b) Parliamentary outbuildings-reported accidents
Members |n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|1 |- |- |-
Members' staff |n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|1 |3 |- |1 |-
Administration
department's staff |n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|2 |8 |1 |- |- |4 |2
Refreshment
department's staff |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Other departments' staff |n.a.|1 |1 |2 |3 |2 |2 |2 |- |1
Outside contractors |n.a.|- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
General public |n.a.|- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
n.a.=Not available.
The number of people in each category are :
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