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You are here: Home > Environment > Environmental Health > Health and Safety > Inspections

When an inspector calls

This section provides information and advice on Health and Safety inspectors visiting your premises.

All members of the Health and Safety Team are dedicated professionals and deliver a high quality service to all members of the community.

You can expect:

• Courtesy and assistance during the inspection. 
• Advice and information. 
• Inspection of the workplace and Health and Safety documentation. 
• Fair and equitable treatment.

We believe that prevention is better than cure and that our role involves actively working with businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises, to advise on and assist with compliance.           

When can an inspector call?

The law states that an inspector can call at any reasonable time. There is also an obligation on your part not to be obstructive and to co-operate with the inspector.

What are inspectors looking for?

When inspectors visit work premises they will assess how well you are managing risks to your employees and others such as members of the public who may be affected by what you do. They will concentrate on those things which are most likely to kill, injure and make people ill at work (priority topics) as a means of finding out how you are able to manage health and safety. They will also expect you to have identified and taken action on other risks, which are created by your work activities.

What will inspectors do?

Inspectors won’t inspect everything - they will concentrate on the priority topics and what you have done to identify, minimise and control other risks created by what you do.

They will look at:

• Falls from a height (Word)  Topic inspection - falls (21.0kB)
• Workplace transport (Word)  Topic inspections - workplace transport (22.0kB)
• Musculoskeletal disorders (Word)  Topic Inspections - Musculoskeletal (20.5kB)
• Slips and trips (Word)  Topic inspections - Slips and trips (20.0kB)
• Stress (Word)  Topic inspections - Stress (20.5kB)    

together with any other obvious matters which could cause serious injury or ill health.

Inspectors will assess your performance by looking at the five topic tables to assess your performance.

Why are we taking this approach?

By concentrating on specific topics we aim to continue to reduce, as far as possible, the numbers of accidents and cases of ill health.

What do I need to do?

The legal responsibility for managing risks created by your work activities rests with you.

You should consider all aspects of your activities to see what can cause harm and how harm can be avoided - this is the basis of the legal duty to carry out a risk assessment.

As part of your risk assessment consider each of the five topics and identify which ones are present in your organisation. When one of the topics is present, check the topic tables for the controls and performance measures to be achieved. Ask yourself whether you are currently achieving the standard. If you are not, identify what you need to do. 

Our principles of good enforcement

When enforcing health and safety legislation inspectors will:

• When giving advice, explain clearly what needs to be done, why, and by when. 
  The advice will also be confirmed in writing on request, and making sure that legal requirements are clearly distinguished from best practice advice; 
  
• Provide an opportunity to discuss the issues before formal action is taken, for example before serving an improvement notice; 
  
• Explain in writing why any immediate action is considered necessary (i.e. why immediate rather than another course of action, and the consequences of failing to remedy the situation); and 
  Explain any rights of appeal when formal or immediate action is taken. 
  Reigate and Banstead Inspectors seek to help businesses improve their management of Health & Safety by giving guidance on prevention (see Business Start Up).            

Officers will treat all businesses, employees and members of the public in a fair, consistent and courteous manner with any action or recommendations being proportionate to the risks.

How will I know the result of an inspection?

Normally, the result of an inspection will be made known to you immediately. If an inspection shows that standards of Health and Safety are unsatisfactory the inspector will advise you what action is proposed commensurate with the situation found.

For more serious contraventions an improvement notice may be issued and you will be told in writing about your right of appeal to an Employment Tribunal, and given a form to use for that appeal.

You will be told:

• How to appeal. 
• Where and within what time an appeal may be brought. 
• That an appeal may be brought on any grounds. 
• That action required by an improvement notice is suspended while an appeal is pending. 
• The procedures and rights outlined above provide ways for you to have your views heard if you are not happy with the inspector's action. If they have not followed these procedures you should let the inspector's manager know.           

Prosecutions register

If you want information about which people or organisations have been prosecuted for Health and Safety breaches by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, please use the Health and Safety Executive's prosecutions search on the HSE website Health and Safety in Local Authority Enforced Sectors 

or contact the Health & Safety Team, e-mail hsadvice@reigate-banstead.gov.uk         

Complaints

If you have a complaint please contact the inspector's manager and ask for your complaint to be investigated. 

If you are still not satisfied you can use the Council's formal complaints procedure.

Complaint forms are available from Council offices.

How we can help you

A wide range of free leaflets and a selection of audio and video cassettes are available for free loan to local businesses and schools upon request.

Email: hsadvice@reigate-banstead.gov.uk

What will be asked of you

Primarily a commitment of Health and Safety in your business activities.

An employer has a duty under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the Health, Safety and Welfare of all your employees. Some of these requirements are covered more fully in other parts of the Health and Safety at Work section of the website.

The Inspector will also ask to see a number of documents (where applicable) including:

• Health and Safety Policy (see Business Start Up).
• Risk Assessments (see Risk Assessment). 
• Your Accident Book or accident recording system. (See Accident Reporting) 
• Your COSHH Assessments under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations if you use any hazardous chemicals in the course of your business (See Hazardous Substances). 
• Your training records, for example if you operate fork lift trucks or a grinder. 
• Inspection and maintenance records for the electrical installation, portable appliances, gas appliances, lifting equipment, goods and passenger lifts etc. 
• The Health and Safety Law poster for employees (ISBN 011 7014249) or provide employees with a leaflet.        

Our performance and plans for the future 

Every year we are required to prepare a  Health and Safety Service Plan 2007/8 (126.5kB) which tells you how we will protect and promote occupational health and safety in the borough. the plan looks at our performance over the past year, identifies some of the key initiatives we are developing in this current year and sets out our plans for the future.