Health and Safety Service

This page summarises the health and safety enforcement service, to ensure that business activities are carried out in a manner that is safe and healthy to employees, customers and public. It introduces the Health and Safety Executive as a second enforcing agency and offers a contact link to their web site. Brief details of our service are included such as inspecting business premises, investigating accidents at work and providing advice and information, along with information about our enforcement policy.

The aim of this service is to ensure that employers in the borough carry out their business activities in a manner that is safe and healthy to themselves, their employees, their customers and anyone else who may be affected by their work.

To carry out this service, we do the following:-

1. ensure that local authority enforced businesses are fully aware of their responsibilities under health and safety law. This includes smoke-free workplaces,
2. programmed inspections of high-risk business premises,
3. comply with guidance given by the Health and Safety Executive,
4. hold training courses,
5. investigate accidents at work and
6. provide advice and information in response to requests from businesses and the public.

We are not responsible for enforcing health and safety at work in all businesses. Generally, we deal with offices, shops and warehouses. Other businesses such as factories, railways and mines are dealt with by the Health and Safety Executive.

Health and safety at work enforcement

In order to carry out our enforcement work in a fair and consistent manner, we have a set of guidelines that we follow. The guidelines are contained in our enforcement policies.

Review of policy

Our policy is currently under review.

To give your comments, please contact environmental health using the details in the panel on the right.

The health and safety executive

The Health and Safety Executive helps to ensure that risks to people's health from work activities are properly controlled.

The contact telephone number for general advice and enquiries is 0845 345 0055. This is the Health and Safety Executive's Infoline.

The Health and Safety Executive also plans special initiatives to help control specific problems at work. For details of current initiatives and more information about the Health and Safety Executive visit the HSE web site.