Health and Safety Enforcement Policy

The Environmental Health Service has a key role in ensuring that everyone who works, resides or visits Buckinghamshire, are protected from unsafe work practices and that the incidence of accidents and the causes of ill health are as low as possible.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) specifies the following elements as essential for a local authority to adequately discharge its duty as an enforcing authority:

i. A clear published statement of enforcement policy and practice;

ii. A system for prioritised planned inspection activity according to hazard and risk, and consistent with any advice given by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authority Unit (LAU)

iii. A service plan detailing the local authority’s priorities and its aims and objectives for the enforcement of health and safety;

iv. The capacity to investigate workplace accidents and to respond to complaints by employees and others against allegations of health and safety failures;

v. Arrangements for benchmarking performance with peer local authorities

vi. Provision of trained and competent inspectorate;

vii. Arrangements for liaison and co-operation in respect of the Primary Authority scheme.

This policy sets out the ways in which the Environmental Health Service will achieve Central Government aims and objectives, and policies in relation to ensuring that standards required by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act are met, advise businesses and employees on safety issues and ensuring that preventative health measures are adopted by businesses.