Health and safety requirements

Officers of the Food and Environmental Safety Service are responsible for the enforcement of health and safety law in certain premises. Details of the types of premises for which the service is responsible is available.

The employer is responsible for ensuring compliance with the law and should ensure that they are aware of the legal requirements applicable to their business/operations.

If you are intending to undertake any refurbishment or construction work to your business premises then you may need to notify the Health and Safety Executive. Further information on this and other duties that may apply are available by clicking on this link.

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the basis of health and safety law within Great Britain. It sets out the general duties which employers have towards their employees and others, i.e. members of the public, and the duties employees have to themselves and others.

The duties should be exercised 'so far as is reasonably practicable', i.e. the degree of risk in a particular job or workplace needs to be balanced against the time, trouble, cost and physical difficulty of taking measures to avoid or reduce the risk.

The law therefore requires good management and common sense.

Regulations have been made under the Act, which generally detail more explicit requirements which should be complied with.

Health and safety regulations

The main Regulations which apply generally, include:

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Work at Height Regulations 2005
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000
Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981

N.B. This is not an exhaustive list.

Management of health and safety at work Regulations 1999

These regulations require an employer to:

carry out an assessment of the significant risks within the workplace
make arrangements for implementing the health and safety measures, as identified in the risk assessments
appoint competent people to implement the arrangements
set up emergency procedures
provide information and training to employees
co-operate with other employers sharing the same workplace

New businesses - what do I need to do?

To start with, new businesses will need to:

(n.b. this list is not exhaustive)

contact the local authority to advise of your existence
if you have employees obtain and display a health and safety law poster (this poster may be obtained from any good bookseller, or at http://www.hsebooks.co.uk/ , or by telephoning 01787 881165)
obtain and display a certificate of employers liability insurance
provide a suitable first aid kit
keep an accident book and have procedures in place to report certain injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences
carry out risk assessments of the workplace
carry out assessments of the hazardous chemicals used on site
advise and keep staff informed of health and safety matters, including provision of appropriate training where necessary
provide a health and safety policy, where they employ five or more staff at the premises at any one time
keep themselves informed of the requirements applicable to them and their business

Complaints and enquiries

To make a complaint or enquiry online please use this form.

Further information about the Food and Environmental Safety Service and other contact details can be found on our Standards of Service page.