Health and safety

We are responsible for enforcing health and safety regulations in businesses which include catering and hospitality, hairdressing and beauty, motor vehicles, working in an office, retail and warehousing in Peterborough to make sure they are safe for all employees and visitors.

Details about services offered by our Health and Safety team to help businesses comply with health and safety law are outlined below. Further advice is available from our health and safety team by calling customer services on 01733 747474 or by emailing foodandsafety@peterborough.gov.uk.

The Health & Safety Executive website is also a useful source of information.

Health and safety investigations

Our health and safety team carry out investigations into complaints, reportable accidents and ill health in relation to the work place. If you are an employee and you think the law is being broken, or minimum standards are ignored within your workplace, you can contact:

• your employer and try to resolve the issue
• your work/safety representative
• your trade union safety representative.

If the matter is not satisfactorily resolved, you can raise it with the relevant Health and Safety enforcing authority who will decide if an investigation is necessary.

If you need to make a complaint about a business enforced by us, please email foodandsafety@peterborough.gov.uk or call customer services on 01733 747474.

Accident reporting and ill health at work

If you have suffered ill health or an injury in the workplace, certain accidents and ill health are reportable under the 'Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations' RIDDOR legislation.

• Some accidents involving members of the public within a workplace open to the public, such as a shop or leisure facility, are also reportable to RIDDOR, if the injured person is taken to hospital from the scene of the accident
• If, as an employee, you have suffered an accident in a workplace that was not reported, and you believe that it should be investigated, you may raise it with the relevant Health and Safety enforcing authority, who will decide if an investigation is necessary

Details of how to make a report are contained on the Health and Safety Executive website.

Our health and safety officers investigate incidents reported to us in accordance with the Health and Safety Executive's Incident Selection Criteria and consideration of the Enforcement Policy Statement.

Risks at work

Controlling the risks in your workplace is part of health and safety and are identified by risk assessment, which is required by law.

If you have less than five employees, you do not need to record your risk assessment results. The Health and Safety Executive holds information about controlling risks in the workplace and also details how to assess risks in your workplace.

Example risk assessments show how other small and medium-sized businesses have approached risk assessment. Other regulations requiring risk assessment:

• Manual handling operations regulations
• Control of substances hazardous to health regulations
• Noise at work regulations.

The Health and Safety Executive provides comprehensive guidance on manual handling and the risk assessment of hazardous manual handling.

Cooling towers

Cooling towers and evaporative condensers are regarded as a significant risk to the spread of legionella bacteria and legionnaire’s disease, when poorly managed. It is essential that all premises must register with us if it houses a cooling tower or evaporative condenser, under the Notification of Cooling Tower and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992.

Health and safety training

Officers in the Health & Safety team provide bespoke training to businesses in Peterborough.

Health & Safety Training is delivered by our team of experienced Officers, who carry out Health & Safety interventions and advice visits to businesses in Peterborough and Rutland.

One of the benefits of this course is that delegates will receive the latest updates, advice and guidance from the Health & Safety Executive.

The course tutors also share their experiences and observations from their inspections of premises and the different situations they encounter.

Pay for

• Health & Safety training

Asbestos

Asbestos is the greatest single cause of work-related deaths. Huge amounts of asbestos were installed in buildings during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and much of it is still in place today.

If you own, manage or have responsibility for a workplace building that may contain asbestos you need to think about the risk of exposure to workers and others who may use the building. You need to be able to identify, assess and manage any asbestos materials on your premises.

If you are a household in Peterborough that wishes to dispose of asbestos, please visit our Householders Recycling Centre webpage which provides advice on how to safely dispose of this material.

Further asbestos guidance and regulations are available from the Health and Safety Executive website.

Carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that is produced when fossil fuels are burnt and is a particular problem in enclosed spaces.

Businesses that choose to use charcoal indoors must have appropriate control measures to ensure the safety of their staff, and others who may be affected by carbon monoxide emissions. Ideally, fuels such as charcoal should never be used in indoor grills or other cooking appliances.

Event safety

We consider the safety of the public at organised events to be a priority, and play an active role in providing organisers with advice and guidance for planning and organising their event.

If you are responsible for organising events such as car boot fairs, craft shows, entertainment, fetes etc. guidance is available on how to run events safely from the Health and Safety Executive website.

The GOV.UK website also has a useful guide on how to organise a voluntary event.

Safety Advisory Group (SAG)

The Event Safety Advisory Group (SAG), comprises senior officers from all of the emergency services, the council and also representatives from other relevant organisers. The agencies consider any implications and ensure that there are sufficient resources available should there be an incident for which they are required.

If you are planning an event which involves a large gathering of people, we would like you to provide details of the event to the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). Please complete and return the event notification form.

For event safety notifications, advice or guidance please email: 
PCCSAG@peterborough.gov.uk.

Purpose and scope of SAG

SAGs provide a forum for discussing and advising on public safety at an event. They aim to help organisers with the planning, and management of an event and to encourage cooperation and coordination between all relevant agencies. They are non-statutory bodies and so do not have legal powers or responsibilities and are not empowered to approve or prohibit events from taking place. Event organisers and others involved in the running of an event, retain the principal legal duties for ensuring public safety.

SAG process

Event organisers should determine whether there is a SAG, or similar arrangements, in the relevant area and if appropriate, submit their event proposal for discussion and advice. Attendance of the event organiser at SAG meetings may be voluntary. There are however benefits to be gained from engagement in the SAG process from the outset. Local Authorities (LA) may of course require events organiser's attendance eg as a condition of using their land.

Discussions may extend beyond an organiser's duty to comply with workplace health and safety law and even the boundaries of an event site, to include considering the impact on the local transport network and civil contingencies in the event of an emergency. The advice provided by the SAG and any decisions taken should be proportionate to the risk profile of the event.

The SAG should advise the event organiser about public safety matters that they think need further consideration, explaining their reasons. It is the event organiser's responsibility to take any appropriate action. On the rare occasion where there is disagreement between a SAG and the event organiser, and there remains a genuine risk to the public, individual organisations on the SAG such as the police, may decide to act to resolve the issue. Decisions on the use of these powers are matters for the relevant authorities to consider, not the SAG and should be discharged separately.

When SAGs consider events where LAs have responsibilities, eg as an organiser / co-organiser or landowner, the SAG should make the relevant LA department aware of any concerns so that they can act accordingly. An LA cannot rely on the SAG process to discharge its own legal duties. This is the responsibility of the LA. This will include decisions regarding the granting of public entertainment licenses and road closures