Health and Safety at work service plan 2026-27

Investigation of accidents, incidents and complaints

Reported accidents, incidents, diseases, and dangerous occurrences (RIDDOR) and complaints are subjected to the HSE’s incident selection criteria and complaints handling criteria. This means that each complaint is investigated if it poses a significant risk to safety or health. Food and Health and Safety Complaint Investigation Policy – Wealden District Council – Wealden District Council

In 2025-6 twenty-three complaints were made about a variety of health and safety issues in businesses – including poor maintenance of work equipment, lack of gas and electrical inspections and certifications. We also receive reports from insurance companies when lifts, forklift trucks and other lifting equipment fail their statutory inspections.

Sixty-two reports of accidents and incidents were received through the RIDDOR system. Of these, five were investigated. They included a person who slipped whilst at a music event breaking an arm; another person walking down a stairway who slipped and fell breaking a shoulder; an employee in a catering business emptied the hot fat from a deep fat fryer, into a plastic container which melted burning the employees’ feet and legs; an employee driving an all-terrain vehicle which overturned on a bridge, throwing the person into the ditch below, then falling and trapping the person in the water. The most serious investigation was into the circumstances of minor gas explosion in a pub.

A chef had placed a turkey to roast in a gas fired commercial oven and had left the kitchen. When he returned about two hours later, he checked the turkey. To his surprise the turkey was still raw, so he lit a taper and inserted it into the oven to light the gas. The unlit gas exploded, causing minor burns. It transpired that the pub had a power cut, which correctly shut the gas off too, but the flow of gas was restored when the power returned. There was no flame failure device nor automatic ignition. All were lucky not to have suffered more seriously.

Enforcement Actions

Two enforcement notices were served on the pub operators requiring the oven be made safe by a Gas Safe registered engineer and to replace electrical sockets nearby which were damaged. The sockets were replaced but no work was done to the gas oven. A prohibition notice was placed on the appliance preventing its use, until/if a Gas Safe inspection report is produced.

Two more enforcement notices were served requiring works to damaged electrical cables in the outdoor seating area of a café; and requiring organised storage for a retailer, as the stockroom had become unsafe because of over stocking.

Prosecution

Honeys Green caravan site in Halland was prosecuted in October 2025 for dangerous
conditions and for allowing year-round permanent occupation of a holiday caravan site.

Environmental health Officers and planning officers visited the site in November 2024, a time when the site should have been closed. Instead of an empty holiday site officers found people living in old caravans and tents, paying rent to the site manager. Conditions were dangerous, trailing electrical cables outdoors from damaged hook up points into individual caravans and tents; electrical hook up points without protection from the wet weather, fire risk from untreated timber cladding on caravans, trees and hedges over hanging caravans, a caravan filled with old soft furnishings, out of date fire extinguishers, rotten wood play equipment, no gas safety certification for the gas boilers in the caravans.

The site owner, Mrs S Lavender, pleaded guilty to Health and safety and licensing offences. The magistrates fined her £17,000 plus £1000 surcharge and £2024-80 for legal costs.

Safety Advisory Groups

i. Traditional Sussex bonfires and firework displays are held throughout the district. Some of these events are held on district and parish council owned land and attract very large numbers of visitors. These events can pose crushing and burning risks in crowds. This work is recognised by the HSE as suitable for proactive intervention by local authorities to prevent injuries to members of the public (safety priority 8).

ii. To protect public safety Wealden DC Environmental Health chairs Safety Advisory groups for the traditional bonfire societies of Chiddingly, East Hoathly, Hailsham, Heathfield, lsfield and Little Horsted, Mayfield, Ninfield, Rotherfield, Warbleton and Rushlake Green and Uckfield. Buxted bonfire society is reforming and will have its first SAG this summer.

iii. The aim of the Safety Advisory Group is to bring together the bonfire society and the local authority with Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Ambulance, Southeast Coast Ambulance to review the safety plans for the event. The plans are discussed, and advice is given, where needed, to all parties to improve arrangements. The plans are discussed, and advice is given, where needed, to all parties to improve arrangements.

Photograph of East Hoathly and Halland Carnival Society even from November 2023

EHHCS – East Hoathly & Halland Carnival Society

iv. In 2025-6 twelve safety advisory groups were held – mainly online, to review risk assessments and other arrangements. Sussex Police presence on the night of bonfire celebrations was significantly reduced on previous years. Minimal contributions were made by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS). Officers also attend SAGs held for other events within the district, to give health and safety advice to organisers.

v. Overall, the events were safe and passed without major incident.

Sampling

During 2024-5 the UK Health Security Agency announced a sampling survey into the cleanliness standards in tattooists and skin piercing establishments. We participated in the survey by visiting five tattoo and piercing studios; we swabbed their work surfaces, taps, couches and instrument trays to check cleaning standards; we sampled the water in sonic baths and from the taps; we checked liquid soaps and sanitisers were diluted correctly. Nearly fifty samples were submitted for examination – one was an unsatisfactory result and a second was borderline. The business concerned was informed of the results and advised on how to improve cleaning routines.

Work related violence

During 2025-6 planned inspections were made of the five betting shops in Wealden and twenty-two small retailers. These planned inspections were part of the Violence at Work project which aimed to highlight the violence some workers face daily.
Violence at Work has been identified by the HSE as a national priority suitable for businesses with vulnerable working conditions – night/lone working, handling cash, anywhere Police and Licensing advise there is an increased risk of violence.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales showed 642,000 incidents of violence at work in 2023/4. Emergency responders and care staff suffer the highest rates of attack, followed by those in retail. When the Union of Shop Workers asked their members why they were attacked at work they answered – frustration of customers (while in queues); trying to stop shoplifting; harassment (racial and sexual) and enforcement of the age limit on alcohol.

The aim of the project is to reduce the likelihood and severity of violence to retail
workers. The Police and the Community Safety Co-Ordinator identified those
small retailers most at risk of violence, we made appointments to visit.

The inspections examined the layout and design of shops, security measures, and
risk assessments. We gave advice and strongly encouraged membership of the
disc scheme, which is provided free of charge, and is designed to support retailers
by linking them securely and confidentially with the police.

The betting shops were aware of the issue, and all had CCTV and risk assessments.
Advice was given on minor safety matters (structural disrepair). Although the betting
shops appreciated the disc scheme; they did not join it.

All the small retailers were aware of the issue, and many had stories to tell.

The post mistress in Berwick was held up at gun point through an open parcel hatch. She was able to press the panic alarm and retreat to her own accommodation. The perpetrator got away empty handed and is currently awaiting sentencing. The post mistress opened the post office for business the next day. Berwick: Man arrested after Post Office armed robbery – BBC News

Many reported the regular theft of alcohol by adults and/or sweets by schoolchildren.
There was a resigned acceptance of shoplifting, with many saying “there’s nothing
I can do…”; “they just keep coming”. This group had not heard of disc, and once explained they welcomed the scheme as support for small businesses.

These small businesses had no awareness of RIDDOR, the accident/incident reporting obligation. Time was spent advising shop owners on how to report accidents, explaining the need to keep their shop well laid out – to prevent slips, trips and falls, and to create visibility to deter shop lifting. Shops that act as drop off and collection points for couriers were often cluttered with parcels and deliveries awaiting collections. Verbal advice was given, the disc leaflet left and written advice sent afterwards.

A few small retailers were difficult to engage with the project. They did not want to know about the disc scheme. It is possible that these retailers do not want any form of surveillance on their premises.

An officer was present in a small retailer, when he noticed a young person approach the shop counter. Clearly under 18, they asked for vapes. When the shop owner asked for ID, the young person answered, “why are you asking for my ID?…you don’t normally”

Three small retailers joined the disc scheme after our inspections. The reasons for
this disappointing result are not clear, but a few factors could be involved. National stores do not want to participate in a local initiative; some didn’t follow up on advice and a few don’t want to be part of any surveillance.

The results have been shared with the Police and Community Safety Co-Ordinator, with a request to follow up.

Overall, officers felt the project was positive. The small retailers appreciated the time
given to advising them. For some, it was the only face to face contact they had with the council.

Plan for 2026-27

We will continue giving advice to businesses, responding to complaints from the
public, taking enforcement action where necessary. We will continue investigating
reported accidents, and continue working with the statutory agencies in safety
advisory groups.

We will continue the campaign highlighting the issue of violence at work with those
working in petrol stations.

We will raise awareness of the need to report accidents at work through the RIDDOR system www.hse.gov.uk/riddor. The number of accident reports received are very small (62 in 2025-6), compared to the number of businesses in Wealden (8585). Not all accidents are reportable, not all businesses in Wealden are subject to local authority health and safety enforcement, but we would expect to receive more than a hundred reported accidents annually. We will email all businesses reminding them of their obligations about accidents at work.

9. Resources

The number of full-time equivalent officers allocated to work on health and safety regulatory activity is 2.4. The list below is of all officers authorised by Wealden DC under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act. Note EHORB is the Environmental Health Officers Registration Board.

Environmental Health Officers outside the Food, Safety team who are authorised:

Database

The shared Environmental health service uses a cloud-based database to
record service requests, accidents and inspections. Idox Public Protection.
There are full written procedures on how to use the system accurately.

Reference materials

All reference materials and internal work procedures are stored on the RIAMS website. In addition, there is material available on the HSE’s general website and secure extranet site, a library of law encyclopedias and reference books is maintained in the office.

10. Competency and Consistency of Officers

The shared Environmental Health service between Wealden and Rother has
resilience, collective knowledge and experience. Annual appraisals are conducted
to identify knowledge gaps and to create a training programme. In 2025/6 training
sessions were held on Violence at Work, with the providers of the disc scheme
Littoralis.

All officers are encouraged to update their knowledge by attending external
Seminars. Team meetings are held in person every six weeks, when cases
are discussed and experiences shared.

Wealden continues to attend and support the Sussex Health and Safety Liaison
group. This group brings together all Sussex local authorities with the HSE to discuss current issues within health and safety enforcement.

11. Complaints Against Service

Wealden operates a local complaints procedure which allows anyone dissatisfied with the Council’s service to pursue their complaint and expect a quick response. No complaints were made against the service in 2025-6.

12. Customer Survey

A proportion of businesses are contacted online to seek their views on how we perform. These responses are collated and contribute to the performance management monitoring and reporting carried out by the Environmental Health Service. This includes taking action where performance does not meet the expected standards.

13. Disclosure of Information

Disclosures will be made on receipt of a written application under the Freedom of Information Act 2001.

14. Contact Details

Website: www.wealden.gov.uk

E-mail: foodhs@rother.gov.uk
Telephone: 01323 644222

Address: Vicarage Lane Hailsham East Sussex BN27 2AX

15. Agreed and Approved

Agreed and approved by General Purposes and Licensing Committee 27th July 2026