Health and safety

• Report an accident at work
• Asbestos in non domestic premises
• Make a complaint or request a service

What we do

• Inspections of business premises such as offices, shops and warehouses to ensure conditions are satisfactory and safe.
• Investigation of accidents at work which involve either staff or the general public.
• Investigation of complaints relating to health and safety.
• We provide information to businesses and members of the public to increase general awareness of health and safety.
• We do not deal with Council buildings and employees, manufacturing, construction or food industries.
• Health and safety in food premises industry is dealt with by our food team ( 020 8871 6139) except in food manufacturing which is dealt with by the Health and Safety Executive (020 7556 2100).
• Council buildings, manufacturing and construction industries are also dealt with by the Health and Safety Executive.
• More information: you can find more information on the Health and Safety Executive web site.

Health and safety information - free leaflets
For free leaflets and guidance notes concerning health and safety at work visit www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/index.htm

Health and safety - legal guidance and legislation
For copies of guidance, codes of practice and health and safety legislation visit www.hsebooks.co.uk

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences Act 1995 (RIDDOR)
This legislation places a duty on employers to report certain types of accidents, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurences to their health and safety enforcement authority. For more information on what types of accident are reportable visit www.riddor.gov.uk/info.html

To report an accident at work visit www.riddor.gov.uk

Management of Asbestos  -  Survey Requirements
Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002
We have received several requests for information regarding the above legislation and the requirement to survey premises for asbestos containing materials.

The above Regulations have introduced a new and explicit duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises. The duty is to manage and/or co-operate with whoever manages the risk from this material and applies to those who own, occupy, manage or have responsibilities for premises.

As part of this you are required to assess whether asbestos containing materials are present in your premises. In some instances this may require a survey to be carried out by an independent specialist contractor. However, this is not an absolute requirement but will depend on the nature of the premises and the size of the company. For smaller organisations and new premises this may be carried out internally by a competent person using existing plans and or knowledge. For example a premises built after 1985 is unlikely to contain much if any asbestos products.

The leaflet " A Short Guide to Managing Asbestos in Premises" INDG223(rev3) outlines the main requirements and provides further references and is available free from HSE Books (01787 313995) or can be downloaded from www.hse.gov.uk/pubns.

For further information and assistance please refer to the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos. This contains links to other organisations such as UKAS accredited laboratories and HSE licensed asbestos contractors. Unfortunately we do not keep current lists of approved contractors.

The new duty requires that you keep a record of your assessment.

Further information is available from the:-

Safety and Standards Team
Environmental Services and Community Services Division
Tel: 020 8871 6160