Welcome To Wirral

We enforce health and safety law in a number of premises ranging from offices, shops, warehouses, hairdressers, residential care homes, hotels and catering establishments.

We achieve this by:

• Carrying out regular inspections of work places
• Ensuring businesses register with the Council
• Providing health and safety advice to businesses
• Investigating accidents in the work place
• Investigating Complaints relating to health and safety
• Ensuring the safe removal of asbestos in workplaces

If you have any queries about health and safety please contact us at

Environmental Health
Wallasey Town Hall
Brighton Street
Wirral
CH44 8ED
0151 691 8318 /8370 /8344

Carrying Out Regular Inspections Of The Workplace

The team inspect most commercial premises such as:

• retail
• warehousing
• office based activities
• consumer services e.g. hair salons
• residential care homes
• hotel and catering establishments

to ensure that the health safety and welfare of people employed there, visiting contractors and members of the public are protected.

Premises are inspected regularly with the frequency of visit dependent upon degree of risk.

Premises such as health clubs with swimming pools and health spas receive regular visits to ensure that the water quality of these facilities is satisfactory.

Providing health and safety advice to businesses

The health and safety team can provide help and advice to new and existing businesses.

A member of the team can visit your premises and offer general or specific guidance.

However it will be expected that the employer will do the necessary implementation such as the risk assessment and the writing of the health and safety policy for themselves.

There is much help and guidance available and below are a number of useful links

In particular you can download general publications from the HSE with advice on health and safety regulations, policies and risk assessment by clicking here.

Registering with the Authority

Any person who intends to employ anyone to work has a responsibility to notify the appropriate enforcing authority beforehand.

This is done by completing the registration form known as OSR1 and sending the completed form to:

Environmental Health
Wallasey Town Hall
Brighton Street
Wirral
CH44 8ED
0151 691 8318 /8370 /8344

Copies of the form can be obtained from the above address, or can be completed on-line and printed off. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Version 5 or later, Adobe Acrobat can be downloaded from the HSE website.)

Download the OSR1 form here.

Investigating Accidents In The Workplace

The law requires that certain incidents have to be reported to health and safety enforcement authorities.

These include:

• any fatal accident occurring on the premises
• accidents involving a member of the public who is taken to hospital
• accidents resulting in a member of staff having a major injury
• accidents resulting in a member of staff suffering from a over 3 day injury
• a doctor’s notification of a reportable work related disease e.g. occupational dermatitis or asthma

• a dangerous occurrence

Incidents must be reported to the Incident Contact Centre, and can be done via a number of ways; for further information visit the ICC website.

A leaflet called "RIDDOR Explained" (HSE31 rev1) available here explains in further detail.

If you have any queries about accidents the Health and Safety Team can be contacted at:

Environmental Health
Wallasey Town Hall
Brighton Street
Wirral
CH44 8ED
0151 691 8318 /8370 /8344
e-mail environmentalhealth@wirral.gov.uk

Investigating Complaints Relating to Health and Safety

Complaints about working conditions are investigated by the health and safety team in a sensitive and confidential manner. Such matters can usually be resolved by advising the employer, but where formal action is required then it will be taken.

If the health and safety team are unable to deal with a complaint then every effort is made to give the details of a body who can.

Complaints regarding workplaces can be made to the Health and Safety Team by contacting us at:

Environmental Health
Wallasey Town Hall
Brighton Street
Wirral
CH44 8ED
0151 691 8318 /8370 /8344
e-mail environmentalhealth@wirral.gov.uk

Ensuring The Safe Removal of Asbestos From The Workplace

Breathing in asbestos fibres can lead to asbestos related diseases, such as cancers of the lungs and chest for which, currently, there is no cure.

If the asbestos is in good condition and is not being, or going to be, disturbed or damaged there is no risk. If it is disturbed or damaged it can be a danger to health, because asbestos fibres will be released into the air and breathed in.

Thus electricians or decorators working on your premises who drill, saw or cut material could potentially create a risk to themselves and others.

You are most likely to come across asbestos in these materials:

• sprayed asbestos and asbestos loose packing
• moulded lagging in thermal insulation of pipes and boilers
• insulating boards in fire protection and thermal insulation
• asbestos cement products
• some ceiling tiles
• gutters, rainwater pipes and water pipes

It is safer to assume that a material contains asbestos, unless there is strong evidence that it does not.

Employers have a duty:

• to identify asbestos in the premises, its amount and what condition it is in;
• to presume materials contain asbestos, unless there is strong evidence that they do not;
• to make and keep up to date a record of the location and condition of any asbestos containing materials or presumed asbestos containing materials in his premises;
• to assess the risk from the material;
• to prepare a plan that sets out in detail how he is going to manage the risk from this material;
• to take steps needed to put the plan into action;
• to review and monitor the plan and the arrangements made to put it in place:
• To provide information on the location and condition of the material to anyone who is liable to work on it or could inadvertently disturb it.

A competent person can do some of this work, for example identification of the material. However the employer has to be involved in the overall assessment of the potential risk, as it is the employer who will know how the premises are used, and what disturbance is likely to occur.

Surveys should only be conducted by competent people, for example laboratory analysts, suitably trained building surveyors or specialist asbestos removal contractors.

A survey will identify what type of asbestos is present and where it is. The risk assessment must also account for:

• the condition of the material,
• the risk of it being disturbed,
• arrangements to ensure information is passed on to staff and contractors working at the premises.

A good strategy to manage asbestos containing materials will help to prevent risk to workers or others who may use the premises, such as contractors and members of the public.