Health and Safety Inspections and Enforcement

The council's Environmental Health service carries out health and safety inspections of over 2000 businesses in Eastbourne.

We provide free advice for businesses and guide local employers through their safety policy and risk assessment development.

See Related Pages for information about the priority topics that are the focus of our advice and inspections.

Our Fit for Work, Fit for Life, Fit for Tomorrow (Fit3) campaign programme in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will focus on a series of different issues.

We prioritise inspections on the level of risk and assess lower risk businesses using premises audit questionnaire forms, available to download together with an example of our inspection report form.

What to Expect When an Inspector Calls

Inspectors have the right to enter any workplace without giving notice, although you may get notice.

On a normal inspection visit the inspector would look around the workplace, work activities and examine how you manage health and safety, to check that you are complying with health and safety law.

Inspectors may offer guidance or advice to help you comply with the law.

The inspector may also talk to your employees and their representatives, take photographs or samples, serve improvement notices and take action if there is a risk to health and safety which needs to be dealt with immediately.

For more information read the HSE leaflet What to Expect When a Health and Safety Inspector Calls, which includes information about appeals, complaints and information to employees or their representatives.