Environmental Health

Health and Safety at work

In brief, the law says that: employers must look after the health and safety of their employees; employees and the self-employed must look after their own health and safety; and all employers and employees must take care of the health and safety of people who are affected by their work.

 

Health and Safety at work is enforced by both the Health and Safety Executive and West Lothian Council's Environmental Health Team. The authority who is responsible for your business is determined by what the primary activity of your company is. Broadly speaking the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for businesses involved in Manufacturing, Agriculture or Vehicle Maintenance. West Lothian Council Environmental Health are responsible for service sector businesses including Retail, Hotels, Restaurants and Office Premises.

 

For full details of the appropriate enforcing authority for all business types see the HSE A-Z Guide to Allocation.

Service Standards

The overall aim of the Service is to deliver a prompt service, in a courteous manner, leaving the customer better informed than they were at the outset by:

• Responding to all enquiries within two working days;
• All staff giving their name when answering the phone and leaving business cards following inspections;
• All staff including their contact details on emails and other correspondence;
• Ensuring complaints receive an update no longer than every 28 days;
• Ensuring all customers receive fair treatment;
• Responding to internal applications within 10 working days.

Performance

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the service or we have not done something we said we would, please let us know. Problems can arise without our knowledge so we welcome the opportunity to put matters right. We also like to hear when a service is delivered well. In both cases, we value your opinion!

In the first instance we would ask you to follow PM&D's own complaints procedure. Most problems can be dealt with quickly by people closest to the situation

If you are unhappy with PM&D's response then you can escalate your complaint through the council's formal procedures by downloading a "Points of View" leaflet.