what to expect when the local authority h&sbackground • originally appointed 1988 - restormel...

What to expect when the Local Authority H&S inspector calls

Darren Hambly CMIOSH -Commercial Food & Safety Inspector

Outline of today's talk• Background• H&S Enforcement in the UK• H&S Enforcing Authority Regulations• Links with HSE & specialist help• H&S Priority/National topics• Our Inspections/Investigations - What you can expect• Event Safety

Some Cases over the years:

Background• Originally appointed 1988 - Restormel B.C.• Specialised in H&S in 1992• 2009 Cornwall became Unitary Authority, joining the previous 6 LA's & the

former County Council• 4 Specialist H&S Inspectors• Area of Cornwall = 3,562 km2 (1,375 sq mi)• Cornwall population in 2011 Census listed as 532,300 (563,600 estimated 2017)• It is believed Cornwall has a summer population of between 770,000 and

850,000 at any one time• 2017-18 our workload comprised of

34 targeted proactive inspections (using National intelligence) 967 Service Requests, 365 Accident notifications (RIDDOR)

H&S Enforcement• Health and safety legislation in Great Britain is enforced by HSE or one of the

over 380 local authorities depending on the main activity carried out at any particular premises. In general LAs are the main enforcing authority for retail, wholesale distribution and warehousing, hotel and catering premises, offices, and the consumer/leisure industries.

• Each LA is an enforcing authority in its own right and must make adequate provision for enforcement. The LA National Enforcement Code introduced in May 2013 sets out the principles that each LA should follow to ensure a consistent, proportionate and targeted approach to regulation based on risk.

• LAs use a number of intervention approaches to regulate and influence businesses in the management of health and safety risks including:• provision of advice and guidance to individual businesses or groups• proactive interventions including inspection• reactive interventions e.g. to investigate an accident or complaint.

H&S Enforcement• LA inspectors may use enforcement powers, including formal enforcement

notices, to address occupational health and safety risks and secure compliance with the law. Prosecution action may be appropriate to hold duty holders to account for failures to safeguard health and safety.

Powers of Inspectors (s.20 HASAWA)

• Enter premises at any reasonable time;• Take Police if reason to suspect obstruction• (i) Take any other person duly authorised by his (the inspector’s) enforcing

authority;• (ii) any equipment or materials required for any purpose;• to make such examination and investigation as may be necessary • to direct that those premises or any part of them shall be left undisturbed for so

long as is reasonably necessary • to take such measurements and photographs and make such recordings as he

considers necessary• to take samples of any articles or substances • being an article or substance which appears to him to have caused or to be

likely to cause danger to health or safety, to cause it to be dismantled or subjected to any process or test (but not so as to damage or destroy it unless this is in the circumstances necessary)

• in the case of any such article or substance as is mentioned in the preceding paragraph, to take possession of it and detain it for so long as is necessary

Powers of Inspectors - 2 (s.20 HASAWA)

• to require any person whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be able to give any information relevant to any examination or investigation under paragraph (d) above to answer (in the absence of persons other than a person nominated by him to be present and any persons whom the inspector may allow to be present) such questions as the inspector thinks fit to ask and to sign a declaration of the truth of his answers

• to require the production of, inspect, and take copies of or of any entry in• any books or documents which by virtue of any of the relevant statutory

provisions are required to be kept; and• any other books or documents which it is necessary for him to see for the

purposes of any examination or investigation • to require any person to afford him such facilities and assistance with respect to

any matters or things within that person’s control or in relation to which that person has responsibilities as are necessary to enable the inspector to exercise any of the powers conferred on him by this section

• any other power which is necessary

HSE & LA's Working Together• HSE has the national lead for Health and Safety policy. Enforcement of health

and safety law is split between HSE and Local Authorities (LAs) depending upon the activity undertaken by the dutyholder.

• HSE and local authority enforcement officers ensure that duty holders manage their workplaces with due regard to the health and safety of their workforce and those affected by their work activities. To achieve this, local authorities, as with HSE, provide advice and guidance on the management of risk and what the law requires, conduct inspections and investigations, and take enforcement action where appropriate.

• HSE and Local Authority Representative Bodies have a ‘Statement of Commitment’ which sets out the joint commitment to ensure provision of adequate standards of working together as co-regulatory partners in order to prevent death, injury and ill health of those at work and those affected by work activities. http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/statement.htm

HSE or LA?

• A-Z guide available on HSE website

• Clarifies the enforcement allocation

• May be possible to transfer between HSE/LA if circumstances require it (Reg5 transfer)

• http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/og/og-00073-appendix1.htm

Enforcement Allocation

Current Activity Topics

List of activities/sectors for proactive inspection by LAs1 – only these activities falling within these sectors or types of organisation should be subject to proactive inspection

No Hazards High Risk Sectors High Risk Activities

1 Legionella infection Premises with cooling towers/evaporative condensers

Lack of suitable legionella control measures, including premises that have:

Not yet demonstrated the ability to manage their legionella risk in a sustained manner, includes new cooling towers/evaporative condensers, or

Relevant enforcement action in the last 5 years and have not yet demonstrated sustained control of legionella risk.

2 Explosion caused by leaking LPG

Communal/amenity buildings on caravan/camping parks with buried metal LPG pipework

Caravan/camping parks with poor infrastructure risk control/management of maintenance




3 E.coli/ Cryptosporidium infection esp. in children

Open Farms/Animal Visitor Attractions 2

Lack of suitable micro‐organism control measures

4 Fatalities/injuries resulting from being struck by vehicles

High volume Warehousing/Distribution 3

Poorly managed workplace transport

5 Fatalities/injuries resulting from falls from height/ amputation and crushing injuries

Industrial retail/wholesale premises 4

Poorly managed workplace transport/work at height/cutting machinery /lifting equipment




6 Industrial diseases (occupational deafness/ occupational lung disease - silicosis)

Industrial retail/wholesale premises 4

Exposure to excessive noise (steel stockholders).Exposure to respirable crystalline silica (Retail outlets cutting/shaping their own stone or high silica content ‘manufactured stone’ e.g. gravestones or kitchen resin/stone worktops)

7 Occupational lung disease (asthma)

In-store bakeries 5 and retail craft bakeries where loose flour is used and inhalation exposure to flour dust is likely to frequently occur i.e. not baking pre-made products.

Tasks where inhalation exposure to flour dust and/or associated enzymes may occur e.g. tipping ingredients into mixers, bag disposal, weighing and dispensing, mixing, dusting with flour by hand or using a sieve, using flour on dough brakes and roll machines, maintenance activities or workplace cleaning.

8 Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)

Residential care Lack of effective management of MSD risks arising from moving and handling of persons




9 Falls from height High volume Warehousing/Distribution 3

Work at height

10 Manual Handling High volumeWarehousing/Distribution 3

Lack of effective management of manual handling risks

11 Unstable loads High volumeWarehousing/Distribution 3

Industrial retail/ wholesale premises 4

Vehicle loading and unloading

12 Crowd management & injuries/ fatalities to the public

Large scale public gatherings e.g. cultural events, sports, festivals & live music

Lack of suitable planning, management and monitoring of the risks arising from crowd movement and behaviour as they arrive, leave and move around a venue




13 Carbon monoxide poisoning

Commercial catering premises using solid fuel cooking equipment

Lack of suitable ventilation and/or unsafe appliances

14 Violence at work Premises with vulnerable working conditions (lone/night working/cash handling e.g. betting shops/ off‐licences/hospitality6) and where intelligence indicates that risks are not being effectively managed

Lack of suitable security measures/procedures.Operating where police/licensing authorities advise there are local factors increasing the risk of violence at work e.g. located in a high crime area, or similar local establishments have been recently targeted as part of a criminal campaign




15 Fires and explosions caused by the initiation of explosives, including fireworks

Professional Firework Display Operators 7

Poorly managed fusing of fireworks

1 See LAC 67/2 (rev 7) for guidance on the application to certificated petroleum storage sites.2 Animal visitor attractions may include situations where it is the animal that visits e.g. animal demonstrations at a nursery.3 Typically larger warehousing/distribution centres with frequent transport movements/work at height activity.4 Includes businesses such as: steel stockholders; builder’s and timber merchants.5 For supermarket and other chain bakeries etc check to see if there is a Primary Authority inspection plan with more specific guidance.6 Pubs, clubs, nightclubs and similar elements of the night time economy.7 Specific guidance on the application of the Explosives Regulations 2014 to the activities of professional firework display operators is available on the HSE website -

www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/er2014-professional-firework-display.pdf

January 2018 Version - (for use with LAC 67-2 Rev 7)

You can expect:

We will gather basic details of the organisation

Specify matters that require attention / breaches of legislation

Timescales for completion of the identifies issues

Whether the item is a legal requirement or recommendation

Name/contact details of the officer

In cases of dispute, details of managers & escalation of concerns

H&S Reports

• http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsc14.pdf

• Comments regarding fee for intervention not applicable for LA enforcement at this time

HSE Guidance

Event Safety• Local Safety Advisory Group (LSAG)• Event notification forms assessed on

scoring matrix• Forms submitted to relevant services for

any specific feedback• Often services can resolve any specific

issues under their own powers• LSAG is only advisory• H&S Feedback will be what is required

to meet the legal requirements, NOT "gold plate" the advice

• In 2018, notification of 918 events• 33 referrals to LSAG

• In 2017, notification of 1020 events• 77 referrals to LSAG

• Dedicated Cornwall Council web pageshttps://www.cornwall.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/organising-events-in-cornwall/

Business Regulatory Support

https://www.businessregulatorysupport.co.uk/

When things go wrong.

Food For Thought, Fowey• Notified by Transco of the owner having

reconnected the gas supply after being disconnected

• LPG cylinders used with adapted fittings within the kitchen

• Electric deep fat fryer had cable extended with a simple "choc box" connector, loosely wrapped in electrical tape. This was on a stainless steel surface in a damp & greasy atmosphere.

• Owner had installed his own gas supply pipework from newly constructed LPG cylinder area

• No gas certification available

Cases - 1

Food For Thought, Fowey

Cases - 1

• Private sector accommodation and holiday accommodation located above the restaurants and posed a serious fire and explosion risk.

• PN's were issued, and a review of the premises licence under the Licensing Act

• During the Transco investigations, it became apparent that the owner had bypassed the meter and had stolen in excess of £150,000 of gas over a period of 20+ years.

• The theft case took precedence in this instance, and the proprietor was subsequently jailed in relation to the theft charges.

Fall from Bicycle -Halfords

• Recently purchased new cycle

• Minor adjustment required to gears

• IP rode the cycle in the aisles to check gearing

• Sharp LH turn taken rather than stopping

• Fell against racking or floor• IP refused any assistance

from staff• Returned Home & later

passed away

Cases 2 - Outline

Case 2 - Photos

Fall from Bicycle - Halfords

• Notification from the Coroners Office• RIDDOR Report only submitted after initial visit to store• No defects found within store• No policy for riding within store (generally children trying cycles for fit)• No CCTV - issues with the system a few days before the incident• Staff interviews• Submission of report for Coroner• Attendance to give evidence at Inquest• No case brought under H&S Leg'n

Coroner's recommendation: Set aside a separate area for test ridesand ask customers to wear helmets

Cases 2 - Findings

Mountain Warehouse, Falmouth

• IP struck by a sign for the Mountain Warehouse shop as it came loose from its fixings

• Complex case due to the number of subcontractors involved.

• The sign had been fitted by New Life Signs Installations Ltd, with ‘inadequate fixings’. Mountain Warehouse not implicated in the prosecution

Cases - 3

After commencing hearing, Formal Caution accepted

Case 3 - Photos

Co-Operative Food, Truro

• Water had been intermittently leaking from under a sandwich chiller for almost 44 hours.

• Mopping had occurred but no effective method employed to stop or contain the leak or prevent customers accessing the area.

• Engineers called to repair the chiller the day prior to the accident. • Chiller had continued to leak. On the day of the accident, the leaking

chiller had not been reported as a maintenance issue and the only control method was a wet floor sign

• The Co-Operative Group Ltd had admitted a charge under the Health and Safety at Work act at an earlier hearing before magistrates

• Judge Simon Carr fined the company £400,000 with an order to pay an additional £50,000 in costs

Cases - 4

Thank you

If you have any questions or comments

[email protected] 223520 / 01872 1234 212

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