Health and safety team - Print version

Health and safety team

We are part of Regulatory Services. We work together with Food Safety, Business Compliance and the Licensing Team.

In the UK Health and Safety is regulated by two separate bodies, depending on the type of business or work activity. They are the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) [https://www.hse.gov.uk/] and Local Authorities (Council).

Local Authority regulated businesses range from local shops, offices and restaurants to builder’s merchants and large storage warehouses. We do not regulate factories, manufacturers, car repair garages or educational premises, these fall to the HSE.

We carry out a wide range of statutory and advisory functions to ensure that offices, shops, warehouses, and places of leisure in the city are safe and without risks to health for employees or the public visiting them.

Businesses must comply with the legal requirements of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37] and associated regulations. Further advice on the law can be found on our advice pages [/healthandsafety].

What does the health and safety team do?

We carry out a wide range of statutory functions to ensure that offices, shops, warehouses, and places of leisure in the city are safe and without risks to health for employees or the public visiting them. This includes:

• Signposting health and safety advice to businesses and members of the public.
• Carrying out health and safety interventions in line with the HSE guidance on priorities and targeting of interventions [https://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/67-2.htm] . These include: inspections, advice visits and information provision to businesses in the city.
• Working with partner organisations such as the HSE.
• Investigating health and safety complaints, accidents and work related illnesses reported as required by law; and in accordance with our Enforcement Policy, taking appropriate enforcement action (which may range from advice to prosecution).
• Enforce Government legislation to ensure continuous legal compliance.

What sort of things do we deal with?

• Investigate cases of Legionnaire’s disease and maintain a register of the cooling towers [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/health-safety-work/cooling-towers-registration/9] within the city.
• Licence skin piercing premises [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/licensing-regulation/skin-piercing-licence], for example: tattooists and acupuncturists.
• Attend Safety Advisory Group (SAG) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/safety-advisory-group-sag] meetings together with the Police, Fire Service and
• Licensing and advise businesses on large scale event safety such as public firework displays.
• Review statutory notifications such as asbestos removals and lifting equipment reports to ensure the safety of those involved.

What we can do

• Signpost local businesses to advice about what health and safety legislation applies to them and how they can comply with the law.
• Provide advice/information to members of the public regarding health and safety concerns in relation to work activities.
• Deal with complaints regarding health and safety matters in local authority enforced businesses in the city.

What we can't do

• Demand compensation or apologies from businesses or take enforcement action on your behalf.
• Deal with complaints regarding poor customer service, pricing or quality. For example we would be unable to deal with a complaint relating to the room quality at a hotel.
• Insist on businesses taking action that does not form part of health and safety legislation.
• Take action in relation to Health & Safety issues that are not within the City boundary. Please contact the relevant Local Authority where the business is based.
• Deal with Health & Safety issues relating to factories, manufacturers, car repair garages, people working from home or educational premises. Such issues are dealt with by HSE [https://www.hse.gov.uk/].

Enforcement action

Where possible, health and safety issues raised by the Inspecting Officer are dealt with by writing to the business and providing advice. However, where improvements are not made within a reasonable time, it may be necessary to serve a legal notice to make the business improve.

Where an Officer identifies a serious problem that is deemed to create a risk of serious personal injury a prohibition notice may be served to stop a specific activity and ensure the safety of staff or members of the public until action is taken to make the activity safe.

In serious cases, it may be necessary to take formal enforcement action, including issuing a Simple Caution, or prosecution. This is always considered as a last resort, and our public safety and housing enforcement policy [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/housing-enforcement/public-safety-housing-enforcement-policy] is followed during the decision-making process.