Health and Safety Enforcement

The Commercial Services Team enforces health and safety legislation, based on the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and a wide range of Regulations. We do this by inspecting around 900 workplace premises in Torfaen on a five yearly risk based programme, with around 300 inspections each year. We also respond to hundreds of service requests and accident notifications each year.

Our Health and Safety enforcement role includes

• Workplace Premises inspections
• Accident Investigations
• Investigation of complaints about workplace premises
• Workplace licensing
• Giving advice to new businesses
• Asbestos testing

If you want to know more about any of these subjects, please contact us. We have a wide range of leaflets and other information.

We do not inspect manufacturing premises or places that are owned by the Council, and these are inspected instead by the Health & Safety Executive. They can be contacted by telephoning them on 02920 263000 (Cardiff office) or visiting their website.

If you need to report a notifiable accident, this is now done via the Incident Contact Centre. You can contact them by telephone on 0845 300 9923 or via the Internet. Major workplace accidents involving serious injury or a fatality should be reported to us immediately on 01633 648095, and we will then advise you on what to do next.

Our main customer for these services is the Government, who require us to provide most of these services by law, and give comprehensive instructions as to how the services should be delivered. The services are intended to protect anybody who works in the Torfaen area, and this will generally mean Torfaen residents although people come to work here from a wide geographical area. The more direct customers for our services are anybody making a complaint or a request for services, and, of course, the businesses that are affected by our enforcement action.

If you need further health and safety information, visit the Health & Safety Executive.

If you are having construction or refurbishment work done, you may need to notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and you may have other duties as well - find out more at www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/buildingcontrol.htm

Health and Safety Service Plan

All local councils now have to produce a Health and Safety Service Plan, which outlines what we are doing to ensure health and safety in workplaces in Torfaen that are enforced by the Authority.

The Health and Safety Service Plan is an annual plan produced in response to the to the Health and Safety Executive's mandatory guidance produced under Section 18 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974.

This Service Plan tells you how we will protect and promote health and safety throughout Torfaen by a combination of measures, which include enforcing health and safety law, sampling and liaising with other organisations. It also outlines the priorities, targets, resources and performance on health and safety, and shows how this ties in with the other work carried out by the team delivering this work.

The plan should help in service management, performance planning as well as assisting in comparing performance against other local authorities.

We believe our approach works, as we have very few accidents reported to us, and even fewer serious accidents, that could significantly affect the health and wellbeing of those working in the Torfaen area.

If you would like to read the Health and Safety Service Plan, download a copy here.

If you would like any further information or to comment on this plan, you can e-mail us on commercial.services@torfaen.gov.uk