The health and safety officers carry out routine programmed health and safety inspections. These inspections are to monitor standards of health, safety and welfare of employees.

 What To Expect When A Health And Safety Inspector Calls

Health and Safety law is enforced by inspectors from the council's health and safety team. Essentially the Local Authority inspectors will inspect the following:

• Warehouses storing goods for wholesale or retail
• Wholesale and retail shops, including tyre and exhaust fitting establishments
• Display and sale of goods at an exhibition
• Catering establishments, including restaurants, cafes etc
• Office activities
• Consumer services in shops such as shoe repairers
• Hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfast, camp sites and caravan sites
• Health clubs and leisure activities, theatres, cinemas, discos etc
• Therapeutic treatments, including massage parlours, solaria, aromatherapy
• Child care, including nurseries and play groups
• Undertakers
• Churches and religious meeting halls
• Coin operated wet and dry cleaning
• Animal accommodation, including kennels, catteries and stables
• Zoos

The inspectors have the right to enter any workplace without given notice, however notice may be given if the inspector feels it appropriate.

The inspector's duties would be to look at the workplace, the work activities, management of health and safety, and to check compliance to the health and safety law.
 
The inspectors may offer guidance or advice, take photographs, samples, serve improvement notices and take remedial action if there is a risk to health and safety.

How often shouldI expect a Health and Safety Inspection?

The frequency of inspection is decided in line with national guidance, and is dependent on the extent of the risks (to employees and the public)

Premises are given a score rating, dependent on a number of factors, and the total score determines which of the six categories your business falls into.

In summary premises will now be rated into 3 broad categories – A, B, C made up of 6 groups as follows:

• A to be inspected not less than once a year
• B1 to be inspected not less than once per 18 months
• B2 to be inspected not less than once per 2 years
• B3, B4 and C intervention strategies other than inspections should be used

Local authorities should review at 3 and 5 year periods respectively the need for inspecting premises in groups B3 and B4 whilst category C premises should not normally be a part of the planned inspection cycle. The type of intervention is left to authorities to decide the most suitable method, and can include monitoring of incident reports, seminars and questionnaires, normally directed at revitalising health and safety strategy topic inspection areas.

The score rating for any premises can be changed in the light of accidents or complaints received, and hence you can get an inspection sooner than the original planned date.

Enforcing Health and Safety Law

If a breach of health and safety law is discovered, the inspector will decide what appropriate action to take. The action will depend upon the severity of the breach and based upon the principles set out in the Health and Safety Commissions (HSC) Enforcement Policy Statement.

Enforcement Action

Inspectors will take enforcement action in several ways.

Informal
Where the breach is minor, the inspector will give advice and guidance on what to do to comply with the law.

The inspector may write to confirm any advice, and distinguish legal requirements from best practice advice.

Improvement notice
Where the breach is more serious, the inspector may issue an improvement notice. The inspector will discus the improvement notice and discus what is needed to comply with the law. The notice will indicate what needs to be done, why, and by when. The notice gives a minimum of 21 days remedial action in which time the duty holder can appeal to an industrial tribunal if they wish to do so.

Prohibition notice
If there is risk of serious personal injury, the inspector may serve a prohibition notice, which prohibits the activity immediately or after a specific period of time. The notice will explain why the action was taken and in what period of time remedial action must be taken.

Prosecution
In some cases the inspector may consider that it is necessary to initiate a prosecution. Decisions are based upon the principles set out in the HSC's Enforcement Policy Statement.

Health and safety law gives the courts considerable scope for punishing offenders. For example failure to comply with an improvement notice or prohibition notice carries a fine of up to £20,000 or up to six months imprisonment.