Health and Safety at Work
Each year nearly 30,000 workers and 7,000 members of
the public are injured in Great Britain as a result of
work activities. Enforcement of health and safety at work
is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) or the Council, depending upon the work activity.
Our primary activity is the inspection of business premises,
giving guidance and advice in most cases, but where necessary
taking action to protect health and safety. We also investigate
the more serious complaints and reports of accidents.
In other cases we write to the business concerned giving
them the opportunity to investigate and correct any problems.
The Council is responsible for health and safety at work
if the business is:
- Office-based
- Shops
- Consumer services
- Hotel and catering
- Sports or leisure
- Coin-operated laundrettes
- Undertakers
- Residential accommodation (excluding nursing homes)
- Concerned with places of worship
- Pre-school childcare
- Warehousing
For all other types of business it will be the regional
office of the Health and Safety Executive (Telephone 020
7556 2100).
Health and Safety in Education - Guidance for Bexley Schools
A dedicated web page Health and Safety in Education has been created to assist in the effective and efficient management of health and safety within Bexley Schools.
Topical Information
Much of the information on these web pages is of fairly constant interest. However the Topical Information section contains information on issues that may be of interest for limited periods, and are therefore subject to change more frequently.
Reporting Accidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences
If you are an employer or a self employed person you
are required to report certain accidents, diseases and
dangerous occurrences. All of these may be reported to
a national  Incident
Contact Centre which acts as a single point of contact
for receiving all incidents in the UK.
Further information and guidance is available from the
HSE
website or the HSE Infoline (0845 345 0055).
Advice to victims of accidents at work
If you have been injured as a result of an accident at work, we have an information leaflet that answers many frequently asked questions. The leaflet outlines:
- Employers' and employees' duties
- What happens if an accident is reported to us
- How accidents are investigated
- The first steps you should take if you wish to claim compensation
- Information that you should keep after the incident
The leaflet also includes a number of contact points for further help. If you would like a copy please contact us or alternatively you can download the leaflet as a PDF:
 Advice to victims of accidents at work (1.71MB, PDF file)
The Law Society (the professional regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales) endorse Accident Line, a free personal injury referral service, if you are seeking legal advice about a work related accident.
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Health & Safety Law Enforcement 2007-08
The Development & Public
Protection (Business Sector) - Service Delivery Plan (658KB, PDF
file) describes how Bexley Council will seek
to improve health and safety within the borough.
Need help with Health
and Safety?
This section is divided into 8 parts:
- General information
- Information about
risk assessments
- Guidance documents
- Access
to our newsletters
- Fire Precautions
- Control of Substances
Hazardous to Health
- Other sources of information
- Can't
find the answer?
General
If you run a small business and would like an overview of
what you need to do to manage health and safety you can download the following
guide:
An
introduction to health and safety (715KB, PDF file)
The Health and Safety Executive provide this and other publications in other
languages.This
guide contains an example of a health and safety policy suitable
for small businesses, or you can download a health and safety policy template here.(This
link opens into a PDF document)
Whether you are just starting in business, are new to health and safety or
are already set up and looking to measure and improve your health and safety
performance, more information can be found here.
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Risk Assessment
If you would like help with risk assessment
we have produced a number of guides aimed at small and
medium sized businesses within Bexley. Click on a heading
appropriate to your type of business from the following
list to select the document you would like to see. If
there is not one specific to your type of business then
select general:
- General
(383KB, PDF file)
- Animal
establishments (e.g. Pet Shops, Kennels, Catteries,
Riding Establishments) (460KB, PDF file)
- Catering
(377KB, PDF file)
- Hairdressing/Barber
(354KB, PDF file)
- Nail
and beauty treatments, cosmetic piercing and tattooing
(359KB, PDF file)
- Offices
(379KB, PDF file)
- Pubs,
clubs and bars (403KB, PDF file)
- Retail
shops (382KB, PDF file)
- Retail
and wholesale warehouses (694KB, PDF file)
Examples of risk assessments
The Health and Safety Executive have produced some example risk assessments to help you see what a risk assessment might look like. They hopefully make clear that a risk assessment should be about identifying practical actions that protect people from harm and injury, and not just a bureaucratic exercise.
You can find out more on the Health and Safety Executive's website
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Guidance
We aim to provide guidance where there
is a need. Click on the following headings to select the
document you would like to see:
Newsletters
We produce an occasional Safety Matters newsletter
to inform employers and employees of important changes
to legislation, good practice and other health and safety
related issues. Click on the following headings to select
the document you would like to see:
- Safety
Matters 02/08 (Risk Assessment) (356KB, PDF file)
- Safety Matters
01/08 (Moving Goods Safely campaign) (610KB, PDF file)
- Safety Matters 01/07 (Smokefree Bexley) (166KB, PDF file)
- Safety Matters 02a/06 (Dermatitis in hairdressing and beauty treatment) (169KB, PDF file)
- Safety Matters 02b/06 (Dermatitis in catering) (157KB, PDF file)
- Safety Matters 01/06 ('Height Aware' campaign) (262KB, PDF file)
- Safety
Matters 02/05 ('Watch your step' campaign) (327KB, PDF file)
- Safety
Matters 01/05 (cosmetic treatments) (166KB, PDF file)
- Safety
Matters 02/04 (multi-lingual advice) (357KB, PDF file)
- Safety
Matters 01/04 (business guides) (166KB, PDF file)
- Safety
Matters 02/03 (hazardous substances) (27KB, PDF file)
- Safety
Matters 01/03 (asbestos) (162KB, PDF file)
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Fire Precautions
If you need help with fire risk assessment,
visit the London
Fire Brigade website.
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Control of
Substances Hazardous to Health
For help with the control of hazardous substances
there is a free on-line
risk assessment package that provides practical advice
and guidance. The term 'hazardous substance' is very wide
ranging and includes chemicals, biological agents (such
as bacteria and viruses), dusts and any other substances
that create a risk to health.
Biological agents can be a particular problem in certain
types of workplaces (for example, health care, some beauty
treatments, tattooing and body piercing, working with
animals, work on drains and sewers, etc). The Department
of Health has produced a useful guidance document called
'Infection
at work: Controlling the risks'.
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Other sources
of information
For general advice visit the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website. The free
leaflets pages cover many business and subject specific
topics. There is a small
business start up page for those new to health and safety.
The HSE also produce a wide range of publications,
many of which are also industry and subject specific.
If you need access to HSE publications visit HSE
books or look at the subscription or 'day ticket'
services offered by HSE
Direct.
For general advice by telephone, the HSE operate a telephone
enquiry service offering health and safety advice
on 0845 345 0055.
The HSE also provides a number of publications in other
languages some of which are shown below. Select a language for further details:
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What if I can't
find the information I am looking for?
Please e-mail your query to us and we will try and provide
an answer. Remember the more information that you provide
the more likely we are to be able to assist you.
Contact Form
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