Health and Safety at Work

Introduction

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (and associated regulations) applies to all work activities. It places duties on employers, employees and the self employed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others that may be effected by the work activities. (This includes members of the general public.)

Enforcement

The responsibility for enforcement of health and safety at work is dependent upon which sector a business operates. These responsibilities are assigned under the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998. Under these regulations, Scottish Borders Council is responsible for enforcing health and safety in the following business sectors:

Shops (and other retail outlets)	Licensed Premises (pubs and clubs)
Offices	Consumer Services
Catering Premises	Religious Worship
Temporary Accommodation (Hotels, Campsites, B&Ss etc)	Specified Childcare

Responsibility for enforcement of health and safety for other business sectors is covered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE contact information can be found on their Website.

Scottish Borders Council Health, Safety and Licensing Team

A dedicated Health, Safety and Licensing Team within Environmental Health ensures the Council’s enforcement and licensing responsibilities are met. Officers from the team regularly inspect premises to ensure compliance with health and safety.

The officers:

Investigate work related accidents and complaints
Give advice
Enforce the no smoking legislation
Act as the primary advisor for licensing issues

The Health, Safety and Licensing Team also includes two Licensing Standards Officers to help ensure the sale of alcohol in the area complies with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

The principal actives that require a licence and the Health Safety and Licensing team can offer guidance on are:

Sale of alcohol	Dangerous Wild Animals
Boarding and breeding of animals	Body piercing and tattooing
Pet shops	Public Entertainment
Ridding establishments

Further information about the application procedure and license application forms can be found here.

RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995)

Employers, the self-employed, or persons in control of work premises, have the legal duty under RIDDOR to report and record some work-related accidents. These are:

Deaths
Major Injuries
Over-3-day Injuries – where an employee or self-employed person is away from work or unable to perform their normal work duties for more than 3 consecutive days
Injuries to members of the public or people not at work where they are taken from the scene of an accident to hospital
Some work-related diseases
Dangerous occurrences – where something happens that does not result in an injury, but could have done;

There is a dedicated UK incident contact centre for making reports under RIDDOR or for checking whether an incident is reportable or not. (Always check if you are unsure.) Contact details and further information can be found at the RIDDOR Website.

If you require any information on health and safety enforcement or licensing you can contact Environmental Health via Web-form or by writing to The Principal Environmental Health Officer: Health Safety and Licensing, Scottish Borders Council, 44 Newtown Street, Duns, Berwickshire TD11 3AU