Health and safety for businesses: Inspections

An employer is responsible for controlling health and safety in the workplace. Our environmental health officers inspect various workplaces to check compliance with health and safety legislation. 

The officers keep a record of all businesses once an inspection or investigation has taken place and when completed, the premises will be risk rated looking at the following: 

Safety performance

Health performance

Health performance is rated from one (excellent) to six (unacceptable), to indicate the inspector's judgment of the overall level of compliance regarding health risks at the workplace. This is based on a whole-scale review of all the findings from an inspection or other significant intervention. This relates to both employees and those affected, or potentially affected, by work activities e.g. members of the public.

Welfare provision

This is rated from one (compliant) to four (major non-compliance), to indicate the inspector's judgment of the overall level of welfare standards at the workplace based on a review of all the findings from an inspection or other significant intervention. 

Confidence in management

Confidence in management is given a rating from one (best practice) to six (Management display poor health and safety awareness), to indicate an inspector's level of confidence in management's ability to maintain or attain a low level of health and safety risk, at the workplace or in relation to work activities, in the foreseeable future. This relates to both employees and those affected, or potentially affected, by work activities e.g. members of the public. 

Rating system

The rating system categorises premises into levels of risk, which determines how often they are inspected.

Only premises that are rated as a category A risk will have full health and safety inspections, other businesses will have project based interventions.