Health and safety at work - inspection

What happens during a health and safety visit from a council officer depends on why the visit is being made and the type of workplace being visited.

 

General inspections

These are scheduled (programmed) routine visits and are influenced by the extent of risk to both employees and the public. This means that premises which pose the most serious risk, or where the risks have been poorly controlled in the past, will be visited more regularly.

 

Investigative visits

All accident notifications are assessed and may result in a visit to investigate what happened. This depends on several factors, such as the severity of the injury, the potential of the accident recurring, the extent of possible breaches of legislation, the type of accident and the past record of the business.

 

Inspections are usually unannounced but may be by appointment. We will probably want to speak to managers, supervisors, employees, health and safety representatives and other interested persons. We will look at the working conditions in your company including:

  • how health and safety information is communicated to employees (for instance, on a health and safety poster)
  • adequacy of first aid provisions
  • correct use and storage of chemicals
  • safety of equipment and machinery
  • general cleanliness.

 

We will also examine various records such as:

 

We are under a legal obligation to tell employees about issues concerning their health, safety and welfare at their workplace.

 

At the end of the visit we will advise on what further action, if any, is going to be taken.  Any correspondence we send to you will be clear and concise, and will provide useful and relevant information on what is required

 

The Health and Safety Executive inspect larger more high-risk premises.

 

Low risk inspections may be completed through a health and safety questionnaire

 

A questionnaire has therefore been developed to aid this objective.  You can view a copy of the questionnaire.  

This questionnaire is designed to be completed by the owner or manager of small/ medium sized firms. It is designed to determine whether you are reasonably knowledgeable about health and safety and that your premises and work related activities comply with current legislation. By taking the time to print off, complete the questionnaire and return it to the Council you may avoid a visit from a health and safety inspector.

Ultimately we aim to encourage you to think about hazardous situations that may exist or arise within your premises and to plan what you need to do to minimise, control or eliminate them.

The questions are based on legal requirements and answering no will indicate that you may not be fulfilling all your obligations under health and safety laws.

If you do answer no to any of the questions you should seek to remedy this situation by obtaining relevant information and correcting the problem.