Food Safety, Health & Safety and Health Promotion -
Service Standards
The Food Safety, Health and Safety Enforcement, and Health
Promotion Services help the Council carry out its statutory
environmental health duties, as well as help ensure local services
offer the best possible value. This information explains how we
respond to your calls/ applications/enquiries regarding food
safety, health and safety and health promotion, what services we
can offer and what standards you can expect from us.
What we do
The Food Safety, Health and Safety and Health Promotion services
are part of our Community Services Division. We deal with
approximately 350 requests each year.
Food Safety Service:
- Responds to complaints about food and food premises.
- Provides advice and assistance on food safety issues.
- Undertakes regular inspections of all the district's food
businesses.
- Takes food and water samples as part of a local and regional
sampling programme.
- Registers all food premises, as required by law.
- Provides health certificates for food where these are required
by businesses for export.
- Undertakes the investigation and control of cases and outbreaks
of infectious disease relating to food.
- Responds to food alerts issued by the Food Standards
Agency.
- Operates imported food controls.
- Monitors shellfish beds in the area.
- Provides food hygiene training.
Health and Safety Enforcement Service:
- Responds to complaints about premises and activities.
- Provides advice and assistance on health and safety
issues.
- Undertakes regular inspections of all the district's businesses
for which the Local Authority has responsibility.
- Undertakes investigations of approximately 120 notified
accidents and dangerous occurrences each year.
- Registers businesses where skin-piercing activity is
undertaken.
- Provides health and safety training.
- Undertakes special surveys and enforcement initiatives.
Health Promotion Service:
- Provides advice and assistance on health promotion issues
following requests from members of the public, businesses and other
organisations.
- Organises a range of reasonably priced training courses
involving food safety, health and safety and public health matters,
for example:
- CIEH Foundation Food Hygiene
- CIEH Foundation Health and Safety
- Stress Awareness
- Develops and delivers a wide range of health promotion
initiatives, relating to, for example:
- Accident prevention
- Healthy eating
- Hand washing
- Themed weeks for Food Safety, Health and Safety, Child
- Safety, Men's Health, etc.
- Provides presentations to a variety of audiences on a wide
range of issues which have included:
- Farm/building site safety
- First aid
- Health and safety during work experience
- Environmental health matters
Fees and payment
Requests for information from the Register of Food Premises:
Verbal: Nil*
Written (per entry) : £1.60*
Written (full register): £775*
Registration for skin piercing:
New: £78.75*
Variation: £17.50*
Attendance on Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
Foundation Food Hygiene Course: £42* (day time) or £50*
(evening)
Attendance on Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
Foundation Health and Safety Course: £41* (day time) or £49*
(evening)
Payment arrangements are made by cheque or by cash.
Our service promise
- When you contact us about food safety, health and safety and
health promotion matters, your query will be answered by one of our
Customer Service Advisors. Alternatively they will arrange for our
Food Safety, Health and Safety or Health Promotion Service to
contact you or put you through to them.
- We will then discuss your needs/enquiries in detail and, if
needed, arrange a convenient date for an officer to make a personal
visit/make an appointment. We will aim to respond within 3 working
days and to respond to requests for advice within 10 working days.
We will respond to notifications of serious accidents and dangerous
occurrences within 1 working day. Your enquiry will be dealt
with by one of the Environmental Health Officers or Environmental
Health Assistants, or by a Health and Safety or Health Promotion
Officer.
- We aim to achieve the highest standards, but there may be
occasions, because of an emergency, where delays will be
experienced. If there are any possible delays, you will be advised
by one of the above-mentioned officers.
How you can help us
- Please ensure that when you contact us, you have as many
details about your query as possible.
- Please make sure that you are home or at your business premises
for any appointment. If you are unable to meet us, contact us as
soon as possible to arrange an alternative appointment.
- If you are completing an application form, please complete your
application as fully as possible and, where applicable, enclose the
correct fee.
- We are happy to assist all our customers with special needs.
Please mention this to our staff when you contact the Council.
Our general standards
We have a number of general standards, which apply to all services
across West Lancashire District Council. You may find these useful
to note:
- We aim to answer letters and emails within 10 working
days.
- If you request a fuller reply, or the matter requires detailed
investigation, we will send you an acknowledgment within 10 days,
which will set out what action is being taken and when you are
likely to receive a detailed response.
- We aim to answer your phone calls within 10 seconds.
- You can make an appointment to see a manager or speak to staff
in confidence.
- At all times our staff will show courtesy, respect and
sensitivity.
- To view our general standards in full see Corporate
Standards.
Give us your feedback
We want to provide services that delight our customers and which
are second to none. We monitor the standards we set but also value
feedback from our customers and residents on how we can further
improve services. If you have any comments, compliments or
complaints, there is a form on which you can make any suggestions.
These are available by downloading a copy from our website or by
visiting our main offices. Alternatively you can call Customer
Services and one of our advisers will complete a form with you over
the phone.
If you do make a complaint about our services, please note that we
have a formal process for dealing with these. These should
initially be addressed to the service manager whose details are
given below. Our promise to you is that any complaint will be
answered within 10 working days.
Contacting us
Click: Environmental
Health
Email: michael.tasker@westlancsdc.gov.uk
Call: 01695 577177 or 01695 585242
Come in: 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk or the CSP at the Concourse,
Skelmersdale
Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and
9.00am to 4.45pm on Friday.
Our Customer Contact Centre is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to
Friday for telephone calls.
We can provide this information upon request on audiotape, in large
print, in Braille and in other languages.