Health and Safety at work service plan 2025-26

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 2024-5 eighteen complaints were made about a variety of health and safety issues in businesses – disrepair in the workplace and concern at the presence of asbestos were two of the issues we dealt with. We also receive reports from insurance companies when lifts, forklift trucks and other lifting equipment fails their statutory
inspections.

Fifty reports of accidents and incidents were received through the RIDDOR system.

Three enforcement notices were issued in 2024-5. One notice was issued to direct a mobile home park owner to carry out urgent electrical works to the park lighting. This work was completed. Two other enforcement notices were issued to a holiday caravan park – one prohibited the use of wooden children’s play equipment as it was in poor condition. This was complied with. The second notice required extensive work to the site electrical systems – that was not complied with. This matter is now part of a legal case against the caravan site owner and is due to be heard by the magistrates’ court in summer 2025.

Prosecution

A Health and Safety prosecution was taken in January 2025 against the owner of Heath’s restaurant in Heathfield. Complaints were received from the tenants living above the restaurant, that their carbon monoxide monitor was alerting them to elevated levels of the poisonous odourless gas in their bedroom. An officer investigated and discovered the restaurant on the ground floor had an open charcoal fire, without adequate ventilation.

An enforcement notice was served prohibiting the use of the charcoal fire until adequate ventilation was installed and certified by a competent engineer. Despite assurances, the work was not done. A prosecution was prepared and heard in Hastings Magistrates court. The owner of the business completed the work before the court hearing and consequently received a small fine of £293, surcharge of £116, plus costs of £600.

The fine in this case was very low, but the prosecution achieved the desired result of an adequate ventilation system installed above the open charcoal fire, preventing carbon monoxide affecting those living in the flat above.

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 2024-5 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.

Photograph of tattoo equipment ready for use within a tattoo studio, showing needles for tattoo gun in protective plastic, ink and ink pots, tub of petroleum jelly, emery board and ruler.

It is important that practitioners of tattooing and skin piercing follow good infection control practices, to minimise the risk of transmitting infection between customers or between the practitioner and customer.

Funeral Directors

In April 2024, the Ministry of Justice and the Minister for Local Government wrote to Local Authorities in England requesting visits be made to all funeral directors as a matter of public reassurance. This very unusual request was in response to events at Legacy Funeral Directors in Hull and East Riding, which is still under police investigation. Funeral directors are not licensed nor registered, there are no specific regulations which govern their activities. The long-term aim is to introduce regulation.

The Food and Safety Team were asked to visit the twenty funeral directors in Wealden. To prepare for this new work, the team were trained by the regional representatives of the Funeral Directors, in their funeral homes. A morning was spent with colleagues in the crematorium, to deepen knowledge. The visits had four areas to assess.

1. Hygiene, facility conditions, safety and capability.
2. Traceability and transparency.
3. Dignity and condition of deceased people in the funeral director’s care.
4. Pre-paid funeral plans.

Every funeral home was clean and well presented. There were minor health and safety issues in half the homes visited e.g. repairs needed to steps and floors, use of fire extinguishers to prop open doors, lack of fire risk assessment, lack of health and safety poster. Two funeral homes were advised to improve their ventilation.

The overwhelming majority reported their major health and safety concern was the lack of information on the cause of death from the hospital mortuaries. One reported a case from the previous week, where an invasive procedure was performed on a person, unaware they had died from Hepatitis C. Another funeral director reported a similar issue with the lack of information supplied by care homes.

Funeral directors must handle and move the deceased in a dignified manner. Time was spent during visits on the methods of handling, the use of trolleys, lifts and other handling aids. All could relate cases where the recovery of the deceased proved difficult, but all made arrangements to remove with care and dignity.

Every funeral director could identify everyone in their care. All had arrangements in place to make sure that families were kept informed of their loved one’s location and care. The approach to the storage of ashes varied widely, with many reporting reluctance of families to collect ashes.

No concerns were raised about pre-paid funeral plans.

No concerns were raised about the dignity or condition of persons in the care of funeral directors, at the time of our visits. This sign was seen on one mortuary door.

All but one funeral director operating within Wealden were given a letter of public reassurance after our visit. Aurora Funerals in Crowborough did not respond to repeated contacts by telephone, email, personal visits and traditional letter.

The full list of funeral directors who have received our public reassurance is at Report shows confidence in funeral directors – Wealden District Council

A meeting is planned between representatives of the Funeral Directors, hospitals and mortuaries and East Sussex Public Health to address the concerns around provision of information to funeral directors.

This was a difficult project to deliver but was important for our residents to know that local funeral directors can be trusted with their loved ones.

Plan for 2025-26

We will continue giving advice to businesses, responding to complaints from the public, and taking enforcement where necessary. We will also continue with the Safety Advisory Group work.

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 (50 in 2023-4), 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.

We will run a campaign highlighting the issue of violence at work for those that work in retail settings. Violence at Work has been identified by the HSE as a national priority suitable for proactive inspection in premises with vulnerable working conditions – lone working, night working, handling cash, anywhere that police or licensing advise there is an increasing risk of violence at work.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that 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.

Work has begun with Sussex Police and Community Safety coordinator to identify those retailers that have reported violence to their staff. We will visit the retailers to examine their layout and design, security measures, and risk assessments. We will give advice and strongly encourage membership of the disc scheme, which is designed to support retailers by linking directly and confidentially to the police.

DISC is provided free of charge to businesses within Wealden.

The aim of the project is to reduce the likelihood and severity of violence to retail workers.

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

During 2024-5 a new cloud-based database was brought into use – ldox Public Protection. Every accident report, service request, investigation etc. is recorded on the database. The Environmental Health Manager provided training for all members of FAST, including procedure notes.

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.

Competency and Consistency of Officers

The shared Environmental Health service between Wealden and Rother has created resilience, improving collective knowledge and experience. Annual appraisals are conducted to identify training needs which form an annual training programme. In 2024-5 training was directed towards the inspection of caravan sites. 

Every member of the team attends external seminars, to progress their professional knowledge and self-development.

It is essential that officers are well informed and knowledgeable in health and safety matters. Annual appraisals are conducted to review performance and to identify specific training needs. Officers attend training days, county liaison meetings and food and safety team meetings. During 2024-5 all team meetings were held in person.

Wealden continues to attend and support the Sussex Health and Safety Liaison Group. This group includes all Sussex local authorities that are responsible for regulating health and safety and includes a representative from the HSE. It encourages the sharing of knowledge and expertise and develops joint resources.

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 2024-5.

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.

Disclosure of Information

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

Contact Details

Website: www.wealden.gov.uk

E-mail: foodhs@rother.gov.uk
Telephone: 01424 787550

Address: Vicarage Lane Hailsham East Sussex BN27 2AX

Agreed and Approved

Browse meetings – General Purpose and Licensing Committee – Councillors Committees – Wealden District Council