As an employee or member of the public entering a
workplace you have the right to expect a certain standard of
safety. Businesses are obliged to undertake suitable and sufficient
risk assessments to protect those within their business
premises.
The following pages aim to inform you what to do if
you need to make a complaint in relation to health and safety, and
to assist you with general enquiries.
-
Report
your concerns
-
Advice
on Legionella
-
Advice
on planning events
-
Download
the Health and Safety handbook
-
Advice
on dealing with Asbestos
-
Report
an accident
-
Further
advice
Report your concerns
If you have concerns relating to your place of
work and you have not been able or do not feel able to address
theses with your employer or safety representative, then
please contact the
Food and Safety
team.
Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS) is linked to
the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They are staffed by
specialists in occupational health who are Doctors and
Nurse who can provide advice on work related medical
matters to organisations employers and employees. Contact them
on the HSE
website.
Advice on
Legionella
Legionella is a respiratory
illness caused by the inhalation of water droplets that contain the
Legionella bacteria. Water systems in businesses and at home can be
collonised by these bacteria if they are not managed and kept
clean. The method of disinfection is by heating and regular
cleaning.
To report a case please contact the
Food and Safety
team.
To find out more about the symptoms, please visit the
Health Protection Agency (HPA).
Advice on planning events
If you are planning a small event, then download our
guide
Guide to planing small/ community
events (pdf, Nov 11, 64KB).
If you are planning a larger event then you may need to contact the
Events Management
team. If you intend to sell alcohol or have
entertainment, you may need to obtain a
licence. You
may also wish to email the Safety Advisory
Group (safetyadvisorygroup@n-somerset.gov.uk) with
details of your event, which can then be considered by all relevant
authorities.
Health and safety handbook
If you would like to look at our handbook which is
designed for business, as a reference you can
download here. (pdf, Nov 2011,
238KB) .
Asbestos
Asbestos has been widely used in industry in
building materials and coatings since the industrial
revolution.
A risk exists by inhaling the fibres of Asbestos, which can cause
Cancer. The fibres are liberated when the Asbestos breaks up or is
in poor condition.
In a comercial business, there are requirements to undertake
Asbestos surveys and to control or prevent the fibre release.
In a domestic setting Asbestos can be found in the home or garage
and advice can be sought from the
HSE website or
downloading our
Asbestos advice leaflet (pdf, Nov 11,
67KB).
If you have a complaint or concern about asbestos, please
contact the Food and
Safety team.
Report an accident
Accidents do happen at work, the aim of a risk
assessment is to reduce the change of accidents happening.
If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident at work
or at a workplace, it is the employers duty to record and, when
necessary, to report it.
Advice topics
We are available to provide health and safety
advice and assistance to employers, employees and members of the
public across North Somerset.
In many cases our advice is offered in relation to a complaint
about a health and safety issue and our response
will depend on the information we receive. In all cases we ask
that you provide us with as much information as possible to
help us solve your problem and provide an answer to your
questions.
Some frequent topics of advice requested are:
