Health and Safety

Health and Safety law enforcement is split between the Local Authority and the Health and Safety Executive. In general, all non-industrial premises, offices, shops, warehouses and places used for leisure activities and worship within the city of Nottingham are enforced by Nottingham City Council.

Are we the correct Health and Safety enforcing authority for your business? Please click to find out more by visiting the HSE website

• Is HSE the correct enforcing authority for you?

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service enforce compliance with fire safety legislation. For advice and guidance and to report concerns related to non-domestic premises,

• Please visit Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (Notts-fire.gov.uk).

Certain accidents and incidents arising from work activities or within the workplace must be reported to the enforcing authority under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 [RIDDOR]. It is an offence not to report a reportable accident.

For guidance on who must report, how to report an incident and what incidents to report,

• Please visit the RIDDOR - Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 - HSE Webpage

We carry out inspections and checks to ensure licence holders are compliant with byelaws and licence conditions to ensure the health and safety of practitioners and clients.

If you require a licence or registration for your activity, please visit our Health and Beauty Licences page.

Risks - Invasive body modifications and similar beauty treatments present a risk of infection and ill health, particularly where treatments are not carried out in a suitable environment or a hygienic manner.

Nottinghamshire’s Hygiene Accreditation Scheme (HAS) is a voluntary scheme to improve and maintain hygiene and safety standards within premises offering Tattooing, Semi-Permanent Makeup and Cosmetic Body Piercing treatments.

All businesses participating in the scheme are bound by the ‘Scheme Rules’. This rating applies only to the hygiene and safety of the establishment and is not reflective of the skill or quality of the procedures carried out at the premises. The Scheme Rules, including the Rating Schedule, are available below.

Rating Scheme

Environmental Health Officers will assess hygiene and safety standards against the Rating Schedule and award the premises a rating:

• ‘0’ – ‘Urgent Improvement Required.’
• ‘1’ – ‘Major Improvement Required.’
• ‘2’ – ‘Improvement Required.’
• ‘3’ – ‘Satisfactory.’
• ‘4’ – ‘Very Good.’
• ‘5’ – ‘Excellent.’

The scheme complements the requirement to register under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

•  Please see the health and beauty licensing section for more information.

To achieve the best possible score, proprietors should refer to and utilise the ‘Audit Tool’ and ‘Management System Guidance’ documents below.

How to Apply

You can apply for membership to the scheme using the application form below. To process the application, you must return the completed form and pay the application fee.

Upon receipt of the application form, an officer will contact you to arrange payment. The fee for inspection and rating is £140.

Request for Re-Visit

You can request a re-visit by completing the revisit form below. The fee for a re-visit and re-rating is £80.

Please note that the fees can only be paid using a bank card; cash and cheque are not accepted.

Click below to Download the relevant PDF files to read more.

• Nottingham City Hygiene Rating Scheme Rules
• Hygiene Accreditation Scheme Audit Tool
• Hygiene Accreditation Scheme Management System Guidance
• Hygiene Accreditation Scheme Application Form
• Hygiene Accreditation Scheme Re-rating Form

Suppose you control non-domestic premises and have a cooling tower or evaporative condenser. In that case, you must notify the Local Authority of any cooling tower or evaporative condenser (notifiable devices) on the premises.

The primary purpose of this is to identify potential areas that could spread infectious disease, e.g. Legionella, and to ensure measures are taken to prevent the risk of such infection arising to employees and the public.

To notify the local authority of a cooling tower or evaporative condenser, please download and complete the Cooling Tower Notification Form below and return it by post or email to the Health and Safety Team.

• Click to Download the Cooling Tower Notification Form

For a current list of registered cooling towers within the Nottingham City area, see the Cooling Tower Register.

Managing and controlling risks in the workplace starts by assessing them. Businesses have a legal duty to assess risks to their employees and persons who may be affected by their activities including the public. Businesses with five or more employees are required to write down the findings of their risk assessment.

Templates, examples and guidance on the steps you need to take to control risks is available from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

• Visit: Managing risks and risk assessment at work – Overview -HSE

All workplaces and enclosed public places within Nottingham have a legal obligation to be smoke-free. This legislation has been introduced to reduce the harmful effect of second-hand smoke on the population's health. See Smokefree England for more information on the Smokefree legislation. This includes the downloads:

• Sample smoke-free policy
• Smokefree signs and leaflets, including translations
• How to deal with smoking in a smoke-free place

Nottingham City Council encourages all Nottingham businesses to implement 'Gold Standard' smoking policies. These policies go a step further than Smokefree legislation, such as not allowing employees to smoke during working hours, not allowing illegal tobacco to be sold on your premises or restricting the use of e-cigarettes. A 'Gold Standard' policy can result in reduced sickness absence and increased organisation productivity.

If you would like information and support on how to quit smoking, please visit the NHS Smokefree website

• Quit smoking - Better Health - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

If you feel we have not met the high standards you expect, you have a right to make a complaint. We take all complaints seriously and will listen to you to find a fair and balanced way to seek to put things right.

If you feel you have been given incorrect advice or are unhappy with how you were dealt with, you should talk with the officer involved first. Should your concerns remain, you can ask to speak, or if you prefer, write to their manager.

Alternatively, Nottingham City Council has a corporate complaints procedure,

• Visit 'Have Your Say' Comments, Compliments and Complaints - Nottingham City Council.

If you are still unsatisfied, you have some alternative routes to seek a resolution by either writing to the Local Authority Chief Executive and your local councillor or raising your concerns with the Independent Regulatory Challenge Panel. Further details can be found at Complaints about regulatory advice (hse.gov.uk). webpage

• Visit: Complaints about regulatory advice (hse.gov.uk)