Health and Safety Enforcement Policy

Local authorities are under a duty to investigate accidents that are notified to them under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.

The purposes of investigating an accident are:

i) to identify the cause of the accident, to make the situation safe and to prevent further accidents occurring;

ii) to identify whether there have been any breaches of legislation;

iii) to provide information to the industry in order to raise and maintain standards;

iv) to inform local and national statistics and hence the planned inspection priorities.

In considering whether to investigate a notified incident, reference will be made to the HSE Incident Selection Criteria. All accidents which occur at premises enforced by the local authority and involve one or more of the following shall be investigated by an authorised officer:

i) the work-related accident results in a fatality, except when the circumstances indicate that an investigation is inappropriate i.e. death from natural causes unrelated to a work activity;

ii) the accident results in a serious injury or a case of ill health or a dangerous occurrence;

iii) the accident results in a serious injury or a case of ill health to a member of the public except accidents when it is clearly unrelated to a work activity;

iv) there is a degree of public concern and the application of the Enforcement Management Model would give an initial enforcement expectation of a notice or prosecution;

v) the accident is related to local special surveys or campaigns or to the HSE key priority areas;

vi) a serious breach of the law is involved;

vii) an accident is a recurrence or is likely to recur;

viii) a young person or child is involved (under the age of 18);

ix) the accident indicates a more general management failure;

x) a complaint has been made regarding an accident that has occurred which meets the above criteria.

The initial decision whether to investigate and how far to carry that investigation will depend upon a number of factors. The following will be taken into consideration when deciding to investigate:

i) severity and nature of the accident;

ii) seriousness of the breach;

iii) track record of the duty holder;

iv) the relevance of event to a wider range of premises;

v) practicality of achieving a satisfactory outcome;

vi) legal considerations;

vii) resource constraints.

In addition to informing the decision for the initial investigation, these factors will also determine the approach to be adopted and the extent of the investigation itself. This approach will ensure that resources are effectively targeted at the most serious accidents and which will result in the greatest effect on improving standards of health and safety.