Information for local people about the Council’s role

The benefits we bring

We aim to protect the safety and health of employees and other people affected by work activities.  We advise businesses about the savings from of good safety and health. We are working to help meet Government targets to reduce:

  • Days lost to ill health and accidents by 30%
  • The amount of ill health by 20%, and accidents by 10%

Who is covered by our work

We do not cover all health and safety matters.  We deal with risks from work activities, which can include work that is not for profit, e.g. charity shops.  We share this duty with the Health and Safety Executive, which is a Government agency.  We, at Waltham Forest, look after the following types of businesses

  • Shops, offices, pubs, restaurants and clubs
  • Warehouses and wholesalers
  • Nurseries, care homes, animal care, and hotels
  • Leisure businesses and religious premises

But NOT if they are run by a public body. This amounts to about 5,000 businesses in Waltham Forest

Our partners at the Health and Safety Executive deal with construction, factories, schools, hospitals, transport, and everything else!  The Council’s own workers are looked after by advisors based in the Town Hall.  

The job we do

We enforce the laws relating to safety and health at work, and offer advice to businesses, workers, and the public.  This means we:

  • Inspect businesses
  • Deal with complaints and enquiries from employees and the public
  • Investigate accidents (we are told about 180 each year)
  • Promote healthy and safe practices

Our priorities

Tackling the most common causes of time off work which are:

  • Slips and trips
  • Falls from height
  • Workplace transport
  • Work-related stress
  • Muscle and joint problems

The powers we have

The main law we enforce is the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, but there are many detailed Regulations.  

Health and Safety Inspectors have surprisingly wide powers.  They can:

  • enter businesses whenever they are open
  • take in another person, e.g. a policeman or technical expert
  • look around, ask questions, take photographs, and a lot more beside
  • deal with immediate danger by direct action
  • use legal documents to stop unsafe work -even closing businesses
  • use legal documents to get better work practices or conditions
  • prosecute the worst offenders

The standards we set ourselves

Enforcement Policy

We follow the national ‘Enforcement Management Model’ for deciding what enforcement is needed to tackle the very varied risks we find.  Greater risks require more control, and blatantly breaking the law is more likely to lead to prosecution.  Less serious breaches of the law are likely to be dealt with by verbal or written warnings, before moving to written legal notices and/or prosecution if the breaches continue.  

Giving out information about our work

Information for employers:

  • We will provide information to help businesses meet their safety and health duties on our web site and by letter or telephone, on request
  • On each first visit we will give you written information about our powers and your rights, as well as about ways of meeting your duties
  • Details of rights of appeal against enforcement action is provided along with the enforcement documents

Information for employees:

  • After each inspection we give to employees or their representative a copy of the inspection report, any enforcement notice, and any factual information sent to the employer afterwards
  • On request, about any general aspect of safety or health

Information for others:

  • Victims of accidents or ill health can receive a ‘statement of facts’ for civil law purposes regarding the investigation, if any, in to the incident affecting them (for which there is a charge)
  • Every year we report on our work to the Council’s Members, and Health and Safety Executive

Equality of access and treatment

We aim to provide a service that is equally open to all.  All employees can expect the same protection from the same poor work conditions regardless of their background or that of their employer.  

Employers can expect to be treated according to how well they control the risks they create through work, regardless of their personal background.  However, bigger companies are expected to be able to control risks a little better than smaller ones.   

We regularly survey the people who use or are affected by our service.  We use the results to try to improve the service we give.  We will continue to look for ways to get all people who could benefit from our service to get to know about us, and to feel happy to deal with us.  

Before taking formal action against anyone who cannot read English well, we will ensure that they have a translation of what they must do, what the penalties are, and how to appeal against the action.  If urgent action is needed, we will do our best to have an interpreter present.  

If we fail to give you the service you expect:

  • First –contact the officer who dealt with you, to try to solve the problem
  • If your complaint remains –contact the manager of the Health and Safety Section  informally
  • If you are still not satisfied – the manager will treat your letter or ‘phone call as a formal complaint and follow Council procedure

Contact us

Environmental Health
Environment and Regeneration
Waltham Forest Council
Sycamore House
Forest Road
Walthamstow  E17 4JF

email wfdirect@walthamforest.gov.uk
tel 020 8496 3000

Enforcement visits and emergency response is available outside normal office hours as required.