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Fitness tests - 270/18

Date Responded 10 April 2018

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

You asked:

  1. What annual fitness assessments/tests are done on our front line police officers?
  2. How many officers took part in assessments/tests in 2014-2015, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 (April to April)
  3. What does an annual fitness assessment/test entail?
  4. What was the pass rate for fitness assessments/tests in 2014-2015, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 (April to April)
  5. If an officer fails a test what happens?
  6. If an officer fails a test how long do they have to get back up to fitness?

In Response:

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.

 

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the HR Department of Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.

1. Officers are required to undertake an in-service fitness test. The test can take place in the form of a shuttle/bleep or treadmill test subject to the officer’s needs/requirements.

2.

Year

Total

2014/15

2132

2015/16

1896

2016/17

1838

2017/18

2148

3. . The shuttle/bleep test involves running continuously between two points that are 15 meters apart against timed intervals. Officers must cross the marked line at either end before the bleep sounds and reach standard/level 5:4. (The standard/level is higher for officers who perform certain specialist roles)

The Chester Treadmill Police Walk Test (CTPWT) is designed to test the fitness of officers who are unable to undertake the shuttle/bleep test due to medical grounds or musculo-skeletal condition(s) on the advice of Occupational Health. After a suitable warm-up the officer is required to walk at a brisk pace (6.0km/hr) on the treadmill. Every 2 minutes the gradient is raised by 3%. On satisfactory completion of 8 minutes the officer will have achieved the minimum recommended fitness standard.

4.  Detailed below are the number of officers who passed fitness tests in the periods requested.  The pass rate is not held within Force systems, however this can be calculated from the set of figures provided.

Year

Pass

2014/15

2073

2015/16

1878

2016/17

1823

2017/18

2137

5. If an officer fails to attain the required fitness level for their post, their line manager will be notified.  Line management will immediately arrange for the officer to re-take the test within a 6 week period. Within this timescale, the officer will be provided with appropriate support and advice from trainers and line management.

6. Up to 6 weeks. Officers who have been unsuccessful on two occasions will be considered for access to external support.

Disclaimer

Due to the different methods of recording information across 43 forces, a specific response from one constabulary should not be seen as an indication of what information could be supplied (within cost) by another. Systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. For this reason responses between forces may differ, and should not be used for comparative purposes.

The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial purpose.

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