Health and Safety Inspections

Environmental Health Officers enforce health and safety law at work in most food premises, residential care homes, retail premises, offices and other consumer services premises. These businesses are regularly inspected to ensure that they comply with health and safety law. The frequency of inspection is determined by the risks found and confidence in management to control risks.

Inspectors have the right to enter any workplace without giving notice, though notice may be given where the inspector thinks it is appropriate. On a normal inspection visit an inspector would expect to look at the workplace, the work activities, your management of health and safety, and to check that you are complying with health and safety law.

The inspector may offer guidance or advice to help you. He/she may also talk to employees and their representatives, take photographs and samples, serve improvement notices and take action if there is a risk to health and safety which needs to be dealt with immediately.

On finding a breach of health and safety law, the inspector will decide what action to take. The action will depend on the nature of the breach, and will be based on the principles set out in the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC) Enforcement Policy Statement.

There are several types of enforcement action an inspector may take to deal with a breach of the law.