Health and safety - the role of Environmental Services

Health and safety responsibilities

If you run a business in our area, you have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of your staff, customers and anyone else affected by what you do. This includes contractors, volunteers, visitors and members of the public.

Responsibility for enforcing health and safety law is split between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and each of the 32 Local Authorities in Scotland within their local authority area.

Which one applies depends on the type of business.

We are usually responsible for places that the public use day to day, such as:

• shops and offices
• hotels, restaurants and takeaway food businesses
• pubs, clubs and cinemas
• care homes without nursing care
• many other places of public entertainment

The Health and Safety Executive, known as HSE, is usually responsible for higher risk or specialist workplaces, including:

• factories and manufacturing
• construction sites
• road transport
• nursing homes
• hospitals, doctors and dentists
• schools, colleges and council buildings

You can find the full list of who enforces what on the HSE website.

Health and Safety inspections of local businesses

We carry out health and safety inspections based on risk. This means we focus on businesses where harm is more likely if things go wrong. We may also inspect as part of local projects, or if we receive a complaint or enquiry.

Our aim is to help businesses get things right and keep people safe.

Get advice or report a concern