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Environmental Health Plan
2008/2009
Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Background 7
Liaison with other Organisations 11
Resources 15
Quality Assessment 16
Review 18
Health And Safety 19
Food Safety 29
Consumer Protection 40
Environmental Protection 46
Administrative, Corporate & other Duties 52
Appendix I Corporate Goals 53
Appendix II Departmental Structure & Staff 54
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
1.0 Introduction
In order to compete in an ever-changing environment any organisation must
have clearly defined goals. The objectives set must be defined in such a way as to
facilitate constructive monitoring of performance and progress.
Ballymena Borough Council has defined strategic goals and core values to enable it to
fulfil the ethos of its mission statement:
Ballymena Borough Council’s Mission is to serve
all citizens of the Borough through strong Civic
leadership and the innovative development and
delivery of services.
1.1 Core Values
A number of core values have been developed to underpin the Council’s mission.
They set a framework, which guides how the Council does its business:
▪ Integrity While fulfilling our mission and vision we will always act with
“integrity” through honesty and being accountable to our ratepayers and residents,
in everything we do.
▪ Inclusiveness We will always consider “inclusiveness” and we view the
promotion of Equality of Opportunity, Good Relations and Targeting Social Need,
integral to all our planning and service delivery.
▪ Value for Money We will always endeavour to ensure “Value for Money”
through the innovative development and delivery of quality services which offer
Best Value to the ratepayer by achieving an appropriate balance between
economy, effectiveness and efficiency.
▪ Integration of Approach We will strive to ensure that the Council remains the
hub of County Antrim and the main driver for “Integration of Approach” in order
to help maximise development of the Borough and region. We are committed to
working closely with other public bodies, the community and voluntary sector to
achieve maximum benefits for the Borough and the region.
▪ Sustainable Advancement We are committed to “Sustainable Advancement”
and we will ensure continual improvement and advancement of services, facilities
and communities in an environmentally sustainable manner. We will always strive
for a sustainable balance between social and economic advancement and
protection of the environment.
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1.2 Corporate Goals
The Council has set itself nine corporate goals (for complete explanation of
goals/major aims see Appendix I), which provide strategic direction for all the
Council services. These goals are as follows:
▪ Continual Improvement of Council Services – we will continually improve our
services and aim for excellence for all our services.
▪ Civic Leadership and Scrutiny Role – the Council will strive to offer true Civic
Leadership and represent the interests of all our citizens.
▪ Strategic Development - we welcome change as a positive stimulus and we aim to
maximise the potential of the area through working in partnership with all other
relevant agencies to ensure the development of the borough.
▪ Environmental Protection – we are committed to the management of the local area
in ways that maintain and improve the environment around us.
▪ Management of Council Resources and Expectations – the district rate continues
to be the main source of income through which Council services are provided. The
use of financial resources will, however, continue to be monitored and scrutinised
and dispersed to ensure Council assets are utilised for the maximum benefit of all
residents of the Borough.
▪ People Development – we aim to give staff the necessary training and
development needed to enable them to realise their full potential.
▪ Public Safety – we aim to work together with our citizens and other agencies,
through our Community Safety Partnership to build safe and strong communities
for everyone.
▪ Effective Communication – we will strive to communicate effectively with our
ratepayers and customers.
▪ Effective Corporate Performance Management – we are committed to an effective
corporate performance management system, which flows from this strategy. The
targets set in our Corporate Report, Departmental Business Plans and Service Unit
Plans will reflect our vision, core values and major aims.
1.3 Environmental Health Services in Context
The primary purpose of every department of Ballymena Borough Council is to assist
the Council in fulfilling its “mission”.
The corporate goals, as highlighted in the preceding section, impact directly upon the
services provided by the Department. The challenge we as a department face is to
plan and deliver our services in a manner which will assist the Council meeting these
goals, but also takes account of changing emphasis for local government as a whole
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which demands new approaches from all organisations involved in the delivery of
public services.
For some time now Ballymena Borough Council has been applying the principles of
“best value”, this must now be combined with the Governments emerging “Public
Health Agenda”. This re-emphasises the need to work in a co-ordinated and holistic
manner so that our services and the services of other organisations are tailored to meet
the health needs of the population in the most effective way.
This requires us to work in much closer partnership with other organisations, from
government departments to local businesses, schools, colleges, Health Trusts and
community groups. This can be illustrated by the example of the “Investing for Health
Strategy” which outlines a positive role for district councils and their environmental
health departments.
This plan targets our services to complement the Council’s mission and strategy and
addresses the changes and challenges that we face in the forthcoming year.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
2.0 Background
2.1 Profile of the Local Authority
Ballymena borough has a population of approximately 60 thousand. The borough is
approximately 200 square miles, of a mixed urban and rural character, located in the
centre of a prosperous farming region. The Antrim Coast and Giants Causeway bound
it to the north, to the east by Slemish Mountain, to the west the river Bann, and to the
south by Lough Neagh.
Local conditions that have a bearing on the work of the department include:
• Good transport infrastructure
• High levels of owner occupied housing/good quality housing
• Excellent retail service provision
• Strong manufacturing base
• Economy activity rates are high and employment rates are highest amongst
this region.
• Above average reliance on agriculture, retail/distribution and public sectors in
comparison to Northern Ireland overall.
• High level of education infrastructure
• Regional administrative centre for various government departments
• The Economic Development Strategy 1998/1999 within the Borough
including Tourism and Arts within the Borough.
A further measure also included the development of the ecos Centre.
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The Borough is currently undergoing a period of expansion with increased housing
and commerce. These growth activities though beneficial bring some problems,
including noise arising from construction sites; problems with new and existing
sewerage services; and a general increase in demand for the services of the
department e.g. food, nuisance and occupational health and safety control.
2.2 Organisational Structure
The Director of Environmental Health Services reports Environmental Health issues
to the Council via the Environmental Services Committee, which is one of 11
Committees.
All powers concerning the delivery of the Environmental Health Service except the
institution of legal proceedings have been delegated to the Director of Environmental
Health Services.
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
Council Meeting
Cultural Local Development Finance, Estate Health Public Personnel, Environmental Strategy Review
Services Agenda 21 and and Matters Sector Policy and Services Committee
Committee Committee Leisure Services ICT Committee Committee Liaison Operational Services Committee
Committee Committee Committee
Events Sub-Cttee. Audit Sub-
Civic Facilities Economic Dev. P'ship Cttee. Waste M'ment
Wkg. Group B'mena Showgrounds Grants Sub- Sub-Committee
Develop. Sub-Cttee. Cttee.
Overarching P'ship Bd.
- ecos mill. env. centre
Leisure Sub-Cttee.
Community Devel.
Sub-Committee
The majority of powers have been further delegated to individual officers depending
on their experience.
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Reporting Structure of Ballymena Borough Council
Council
Town Clerk & Chief Executive
Personnel, Development, Finance & I.T. Environmental Building
Policy & Leisure & Services Health Services Control
Operational Cultural Services
Services Services
Staff Structure
The staff & departmental structure of the Environmental Health Services Department
can be seen in Appendix 2.
2.3 Service Delivery Points
The service is available during normal working hours for the most part, with out of
hours work being carried out as and when necessary. The officers can be accessed by
direct dial telephone lines, mobile phone and direct access emails. Officers are
available at reasonable times at the council offices:
“Ardeevin”
80 Galgorm Road,
Ballymena,
Co. Antrim
BT42 1AB
An emergency contact number for the Environmental Health Department has been
published in the Northern Ireland Telephone Directory for public use. In addition to
this, however, an informal callout system for the investigation of food poisoning
incidents has been set up. The contact details for the officers concerned have been
given to the Communicable Disease Control Centre and the Department of Public
Health Medicine.
Specific callout arrangements are made as and when necessary to facilitate complaint
investigations e.g. noise disturbance etc.
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2.4 Enforcement Policy
Ballymena Borough Council has adopted specific enforcement policies as drafted by
members of the Northern Chief Environmental Health Officers Forum Food Safety
Sub-Group for Food Safety, Food Standards and Hazard Analysis. In addition to this
Ballymena Borough Council has a generic enforcement policy across all other core
functions of the Environmental Health Department. All of these policies are based on
the Enforcement Concordat produced by the Better Regulation Unit of the Cabinet
Office, and the Crown Prosecution Service guidelines for prosecutors. Businesses and
the general public can consult these policies at any time via the Ballymena Borough
Council web site (www.ballymena.gov.uk).
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3.0 Liaison with other Organisations
The Environmental Health Department of Ballymena Borough Council is linked to
other council departments as per the organisational structure. These internal liaisons
are augmented by direct contact with other agencies and other Councils within the
Northern Group area.
Each local authority within the Northern Group area participates at Director level, in
the Northern Group Chief Officers Forum, together with representatives of Northern
Group Systems (Environmental Health). This Forum ensures a consistent approach to
the core functions across the ten district councils comprising the Northern Group area.
The Forum has core function groups, comprising specialist representatives from the
ten district councils plus a Principal EHO, and/or a Senior EHO from Northern Group
Systems.
Specialist support to the district councils in the core functions is available from
Northern Group Systems through the Principal Officers and their staff.
Province wide all Councils participate in the Chief Environmental Health Officers
Group which formed sub-groups dealing with many areas relevant to the specific core
functions of the Environmental Health Department and subjects such as health
promotion which impinge upon all the departments activities. These groups interact
with various government departments and agencies to ensure a consistent approach to
the core functions province-wide. Representation on bodies such as LACORS etc. and
monitoring by FSA, HELA etc. ensures consistency across the UK.
An example of an all Ireland approach is where the Food Safety Promotion Board
addresses communicable disease control on an all Ireland basis involving, amongst
others, the NHSCT, NGS and district councils.
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Liaison with other Organisations (contd.)
N.G.S. (Env. Health)
Northern CEHO's Forum
Internal Forum Sub Groups
Building Control
Development & Leisure
Operational Services
Economic Development N.G. Councils
Town Clerk/Chief Executive
Personnel & Policy Services Antrim B.C.
Finance & IT Ballymoney B.C.
Carrickfergus B.C.
Coleraine B.C.
External Cookstown D.C.
FSA, DRD, HPA, LACORS, Larne B.C.
DARD, EHS, CCDC, NEELB, Magherafelt D.C.
Eurofins, PH Lab, Private Moyle D.C.
Sector labs/test houses, Ballymena Borough Newtownabbey B.C.
NHSCT, IRTU, QUB, PSNI,
NITAP, NIHE, HSE, Council
HELANI, NSCA, CIEH, FCB, Local Authorities
PH Medicine, Community UK and/or
Groups, NIO, RoSPA, DTI
Consumer Safety Unit, Legal European
Representatives, Ballymena
and District Home Accident
Prevention Group
Belfast C.C.
EGEHC
SGEHC
WGEHC
N.I. Food Liaison
Group
CEHOG
LACORS
Radiation
Monitoring FSA
Group
DARD
CDSC DRD/EHS
JSG FSPB
Public DHSS
Consumer HSLG
Analyst,
Protection
PHLS Training
Sub Group
Officers
Group
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CHART- KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
CDSC Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre
CEHOG Director of Environmental Health Services Group
DARD Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
DHSS&PS Department of Health, Social Services and Personal Services
DRD Department of Regional Development
EGEHC Eastern Group Environmental Health Committee
FSA Food Standards Agency
FSPB Food Safety Promotion Board
HPA Health Promotion Agency
JSG Joint Supervisory Group
LACORS Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services
NEELB North Eastern Education and Library Board
NHSCT Northern Health and Social Care Trust
NIFLG Northern Ireland Food Liaison Group
NGS Northern Group Systems (Environmental Health)
PH Labs Public Health Laboratory
SGEHC Southern Group Environmental Health Committee
WGEHC Western Group Environmental Health Committee
HSE Health and Safety Executive
HELA Health and Safety Executive/Local Authority Enforcement Liaison
Committee
NSCA National Society for Clean Air
CIEH Chartered Institute Of Environmental Health
PSNI Police Service For Northern Ireland
NITAP Northern Ireland Tenants Action Project
NIHE Northern Ireland Housing Executive
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FCB Fisheries Conservancy Board
NIO Northern Ireland Office
EHS Environment and Heritage Service
RoSPA Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
DTI Department of Trade and Industry
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4.0 Resources
4.1 Financial Allocation
The Environmental Health Section of the Environmental Health Services Department
comprises only a small portion of the £3,904,346 financial budget estimates.
The Breakdown is as follows:
• Waste Disposal £2,946,198
• Borough Warden Service £102,758
• Environmental Health £789,421
• Dog Control £65,969
During the efficiency review process it was agreed that this department would replace
payment for 50% of essential overtime work (e.g. late night noise monitoring, evening
training sessions for businesses) with time off in lieu.
The department is also now subject to additional statutory duties which further
increases the burden upon the staff resources for example the enforcement of the
smoke free legislation, inspections necessitated by the Private Tenancies Orders.
As a result the department resource is severely stretched and we are now obliged to
reduce and reprioritise the service provision by the Environmental Health
Department.
4.2 Staff Development Plan
All staff within the department are encouraged to identify training needs in
conjunction with the Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer and/or their line
manager each year. These needs are prioritised in consultation with the Ballymena
Borough Council’s Training Co-Ordinator to ensure that requirements regarding
competence and continuing professional development (BC/GN/PRO 005 and
BBC/GN/PRO/009) are met.
In addition, training needs may arise outside the annual review due to changing
workloads, legislation and staff movement. Such additional training needs will be
accommodated within a Group Training Plan, the NI Training Officers Plan and/or in-
house training. The relevant officer assesses all training undertaken, upon completion.
This is to ensure that the training objectives are being met and implemented.
Group officers will continue to monitor on a planned basis and carry out follow up
checks.
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5.0 Quality Assessment
The Departments services are designed to meet customer needs, and are provided with
reference to Council and Committee policies. The policies are translated into
objectives expressed in the form of Annual Corporate and Departmental Targets. The
activities of the department are then based on these objectives and constitute the
service specification that it aims to meet.
5.1 Internal Assessment
The department recognises that its success and reputation depend upon the supply of a
high quality service and commits all staff to that end, thereby ensuring customer
satisfaction. All members of staff within the department are responsible for the
implementation of quality assurance procedures achieving specified levels of service
at all stages of work affected by their activities. Everyone within the department is
encouraged to take responsibility for the work they carry out and to strive to do it
“Right First Time Every Time”.
To this end the support of the senior officers within the department is critical. The
Council has adopted an internal monitoring procedure (BBC/GN/PRO/003) for the
monitoring of enforcement activities across all core functions. This procedure assists
the senior environmental health officers in ensuring a consistent quality and level of
service from all officers through the routine monitoring of written/computerised
records, correspondence, risk assessments and accompanied visits.
5.2 External Assessment
The functions within the environmental health department are increasingly being
subject to external monitoring.
In recent months external audits have been carried out in the following areas:
• Industrial Pollution Control
• Food Safety
Each of these audits has taken an in depth look at the systems and procedures
employed in addition to the quality and volume of work undertaken.
During the year 2008/9 the Health & Safety function will be subject to audit by NGS
and a representative of Southern Group Environmental Health as part of a rolling
programme of audits throughout Northern Ireland to ensure quality and consistency of
service.
5.3 Best Value
As part of Ballymena Borough Council’s ongoing programme for the implementation
of Best Value, the Environmental Health Service Review was completed
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approximately 5 years ago. The subsequent Performance Improvement Plan is
reviewed and amended annually.
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6.0 Review
A critical part of any planning process is measurement, thus this department will
continue to review performance against monthly inspection and sampling
programmes etc. Although this is currently informal this will be formalised, with
results, variations, discrepancies etc being discussed at a monthly Environmental
Health Management Team Meeting. Performance in regard to the food service will
also be reviewed quarterly in association with the Food Standards Agency returns.
At the end of the term of this plan a final performance review will be drawn up and
reported to the Environmental Services Committee of the Council as in previous
years. This report has in the past and will continue to highlight the following areas for
each core function:
Compliance with targets,
Variance from targets and the reasons for this,
Key issues during the period of the plan
Possible changes/improvements to the service.
Other criteria used to measure departmental performance will be the Environmental
Health Indicators as set by the Department of the Environment, for the province at
large which have undergone a significant change over previous years. This monitoring
now requires the completion and submission to the DoE, of “Quality and Performance
Matrices” for the Food Safety and Health and Safety core functions.
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7.0 HEALTH AND SAFETY
7.2 Health & Safety Service – Aims and Objectives
The Health and Safety Service aims and objectives have been set by considering:-
• Corporate strategic objectives
• The HELANI Strategic Plan 2005 – 2008
• The Health and Safety Commissions (HSC) Strategy for Workplace
Health and Safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond
• Investing for Health Strategy
• Local needs and priorities
This plan supports the HELANI strategy which directs enforcing authorities to focus
resources on high risk areas where we can have the greatest impact and to ensure
there is an appropriate balance in the tools that we use to secure compliance, i.e.
promotion, provision of information and advice and enforcement.
Aims
To seek to protect and promote the health, safety and welfare of people at work and to
safeguard others against risks arising from work activities in premises for which
Ballymena Borough Council is the enforcement authority.
Objectives
Key objectives which lead towards fulfilling this aim are:-
• To produce and make available an annual Health and Safety Plan which is
agreed by the elected Members. This plan shall outline a programme of work
for health and safety interventions which complies with, and contributes to the
requirements of the HSENI/local authority enforcement liaison committee
(HELANI) strategic plan 2005-2008;
• To maintain and continually update a register of all premises where the service
enforces health and safety legislation.
• To implement programme of visits to the highest hazard/risk
premises whilst utilising other intervention methods for lower
risk premises. This will be done in a systematic and
transparent way using a risk based scoring system and a
focus on priority issues (as identified areas of high risk).
• To investigate reportable accidents or dangerous occurrences at workplaces on
a priority basis.
• To respond to service requests relating to unsafe or unhealthy workplaces on a
priority basis.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
• To raise awareness of occupational health and safety issues by promoting a
partnership approach between the public, private and voluntary sectors and the
general public.
• Within the workplace setting, to initiate and contribute to initiatives tackling
local health and safety issues.
• To fully participate in regional enforcement interventions having regard to
identified HELANI priorities for the incoming year.
• To develop support initiatives for small to medium sized businesses providing
information and assistance on health and safety legislation.
• To carry out all other functions in relation to health and safety law
enforcement, promptly and efficiently and in accordance with the Council’s
enforcement policy and relevant mandatory guidance.
• To effectively manage the resources of the health and safety unit to provide a
cost effective high quality service.
7.1 The Scope of the Health and Safety Service
The enforcement of health and safety legislation is split between the Health and
Safety Executive for N.I. (HSENI) and Local Authorities. Premises with
manufacturing, agriculture and construction as the main activity are the responsibility
of HSENI, whilst commercial and recreational premises fall to Local Authorities for
health and safety enforcement.
The department will discharge its health and safety function
using a series of interventions. These include:-
• Planned premises inspections
• Planned special interventions, surveys or
enforcement initiatives
• Reactive work (i.e. investigation of accidents and complaints at places
of work, providing advice and guidance etc.)
• Visits to new premises
• Revisits
• Service promotion
• Health and safety education and awareness campaigns
Routine health and safety premises inspections are generally carried out
independently of other work of the department, however where there is merit in
combining visits with, for example, visits by food officers, this will be arranged
through liaison with the Senior Food Safety Officer.
The health and safety enforcement service will plan local initiatives based on trends,
patterns or needs identified in the course of routine enforcement work, and/or as a
result of consultation with businesses. It is anticipated that these initiatives will
complement, and to some extent, replace conventional inspection methods,
particularly in the case of small to medium sized businesses. The use of such
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alternative methods of activity is encouraged by HELANI as an effective use of
resources as it allows effective and focused activity to maximise the impact of
interventions aimed at addressing the key health and safety at work issues relevant to
the people of NI.
The department recognises the benefits of working in partnership with other agencies
(both statutory and voluntary) as an effective use of resource and is represented on a
number of local partnerships such as the Ballymena Safer Working Group and
Ballymena Retailers Against Crime to allow contribution to local safety issues.
The service is represented on the Northern Group’s Chief EHO’s Health, Safety and
Licensing Subgroup that meet quarterly. This allows the service to ensure consistency
and effectiveness of enforcement practice as well as maintaining established links
with HSENI and other local authority enforcement officers.
The department is represented on the Tobacco Task Group
which was set up to look at Tobacco Control issues. The
group has been tasked by the Northern Group Chief EHO’s
Forum to move forward the outstanding matters from the
Tobacco Action Plan 2003 – 2008 and to provide
leadership and focus on tobacco control within the
Borough. This Group also considers the implementation and enforcement of smoke
free legislation.
The service is also closely linked with the Council’s Emergency Planning
arrangements, with the Senior EHO acting as an Emergency Co-ordination Officer for
the Council. This involves, amongst other things, working as part of a small local
team with PSNI, Homefirst Community Trust and NI Ambulance Service to develop
local arrangements for emergency rest centre provision etc. in the event of a major
incident occurring in the Borough.
There continues to be a significant number of private firework displays held in the
Borough. The team intends to continue to work in partnership with the Northern
Ireland Office to assess the safety of such displays to allow licences to be granted as
appropriate. The department also works in partnership with NIO to inspect premises
requiring registration for the storage of Hazard Type 4 articles under the Manufacture
and Storage of Explosives Regulations (NI) 2006
The health and safety service operates from the Council Offices between 9.00am and
5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Evening and weekend inspections are carried out as
determined by the risk based inspection programme and premises opening hours.
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7.3 Demands on the Health and Safety Service
Ballymena Borough Council has 1426 health and safety premises currently open (as at
31st March 2008) for which the Authority has health and safety responsibility. The
profile of these premises shows a high proportion of retail and consumer service
premises, with a limited number of residential homes and childcare establishments.
(i) Analysis of premises database by premises type
Premises Type Number (at 31/3/08)
Retail shops 593
Wholesale shops 75
Offices 203
Catering, restaurants and bars 212
Hotels, campsites and other short stay accommodation 28
Residential care and childcare 43
Leisure and cultural services 54
Consumer services and membership organisations 214
Other premises not classified above 4
Total 1426
(ii) Analysis of premises database by risk category.
High Hazard/Risk B1 B2 B3 B4 Low Hazard/Risk U
(A) (C)
1 97 198 346 417 284 83
U = New premises targeted for inspection at future date
7.4 Health and Safety Resources and Reporting Structure
Mr A A Kinghorn
Director of Environmental Health Services
Mrs N McCall
Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer
Mrs J Coulter/Mrs E Logan (job share)
Senior Environmental Health Officer
K Bruce# S. Mills+
Health and Safety Team
#
Officer currently acting SEHO Environmental Protection
+
Officer on secondment returns August 2008
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Due to staff movement resulting from secondment and maternity leave temporary
staff are being utilised equating to a full time equivalent (FTE) of almost 1.9 officers,
a reduction of 0.6 FTE officer on 2006/07.
A training and competency programme is in place to ensure that officers are suitably
trained and experienced to carry out health and safety services. Each member of staff
is asked to ensure that he/she retains sufficient documentation from training seminars
as proof of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) attainment.
Where the need for specialised expertise is identified, this can be readily sourced from
officers employed at Northern Group Systems (NGS).
Staff resource issues, such as sickness and maternity cover, may present occasions
where the department may need to outsource staff to deliver aspects of the service.
Cover can be provided either by NGS officers or temporary recruitment however any
such decision will be taken by the Director of Environmental Health Services.
7.5 Contact Information
Officer Post Tel. No. E Mail Address
Alex Kinghorn Director 028 2566 0380 Alex.kinghorn@ballymena.gov.uk
Nicola McCall Deputy Dir. 028 2566 0375 Nicola.mccall@ballymena.gov.uk
Juliet Coulter Senior EHO 028 2566 0392 Juliet.coulter@ballymena.gov.uk
Karen Bruce EHO 028 2566 0379 Karen.bruce@ballymena.gov.uk
Sam Mills EHO 028 2566 0377 Sam.mills@ballymena.gov.uk
Claire McNally EHO (Temp) 028 2566 0377 Claire.mcnally@ballymena.gov.uk
Fergal Mullan EHO (Temp) 028 2566 387 Fergal.mullan@ballymena.gov.uk
An emergency telephone number for the Environmental Health Services Department
is provided in the telephone directory for public use. Specific after hours
arrangements are made as necessary for supervision of events etc.
7.6 Service Delivery
On 1st April 2005, Ballymena Borough Council adopted (HELA) Local Authority
Circular (LAC) 67/1 (rev 3).
This required a shift in focus of local authority health and safety enforcement to
reflect the new approach to develop more effective interventions. It requires priority
to be given to partnership projects, special interventions and the planning and
implementation of a regular programme of visits to the highest hazard/risk premises,
focusing on a topic based inspection approach.
The topic based inspection approach is about focussing resources where they are
likely to have the greatest impact and undertaking proactive interventions which
concentrate on those key topic areas (priorities) which have been identified as
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contributing the highest rates of accidents/incidents and ill-health across all enforcing
authorities.
The use of such alternative methods of activity is encouraged by HELANI as an
effective use of resources as it allows effective and focused activity to maximise the
impact of interventions aimed at addressing the key health and safety at work issues
relevant to the people of NI.
In accordance with LAC 67/1 Ballymena Borough Council will look at developing
and implementing initiative based interventions and partnership activities during
2007/08 at both a local and regional level, to help it to address the strategic themes of
the HELANI Strategy.
7.7 Health & Safety Intervention Programme 2007-2008
7.7.1 Health and Safety Planned Inspections
An inspection rating system is applied to all premises inspected to both prioritise and
determine the frequency of planned inspections in accordance with LAC 67/1 rev 3.
For the planned workload from April 2008-2009 there will continue to be in depth
premises inspections for those premises classified as higher risk with other
intervention strategies introduced for the medium/low risk businesses. This year, as
with last the department remains understaffed which will again place limitations on
the number of inspections likely to be achieved.
The table below highlights the health and safety planned inspection programme for
the forthcoming year:-
Category Category Visit Frequency No. due for inspection
of Risk of 2007/2008
Premises
Highest A Not less than once per year 1
hazard/risk
Intermediate BI Not less than once per 18 54
hazard/risk months
B2 Not less than once per 2 years 58
B3 Visit or Other interventions 145
(review 3 yrs)
B4 Visit or Other interventions 54
(review 5 yrs)
Lowest hazard C Visit or Other interventions 18
risk (review 5 years)
Uncategorized U 83 to date
Total 413
(a) Lower Risk Premises
The planned programme will continue to be generated and will include C, B4 and B3
rated inspections. Due to staff constraints these premises will generally not be subject
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to routine inspection and as far as possible other intervention strategies will instead be
applied (see section 7.7.2)
Ballymena Borough Council however, intends to continue to assign a percentage of
these premises for inspection to use them to train inexperienced officers or students
and to review desktop risk scores. These visits will be recorded as inspections but
resources devoted to these premises groups will not be disproportionate.
(b) High Risk Premises
The health and safety team will undertake to inspect 90% of the due premises within
bands A, B1 and B2 . Priority will be given to the highest risk first
and premises will be selected which appear (either through
experience or business sector) to be suitable for topic based
inspection. In practice this will involve hosting a series of business
seminars, production of guidance packs in both written and
electronic form followed up by sliced audits on a particular subject
(not full general inspections) in one of the priority areas, namely
working at heights
The premises risk rating will be updated after a topic based inspection. The
remainder of the planned programme will be inspected as per normal general
inspections.
7.7.2 Other Intervention Strategies
Alternative intervention strategies are to be developed and applied to some of the
lower risk category premises, i.e. C, B4 and B3 rated premises which become due for
inspection during the year.
Such strategies could include surveys/questionnaires, mail shots or review of
accident/complaint data. Alternatively, duty holders could be invited to attend health
and safety training/seminars in association with the Council or asked to sign up to a
business start/support programme or other small business initiative. Opportunities to
conduct joint enforcement visits with food/consumer protection will also be
considered.
All interventions will be recorded (but not as inspections) and premises will, where
possible, be re-rated to ensure that they are not ‘lost’ from the inspection database.
7.7.3 Smoke Free Inspections
As a result of the implementation of The Smoking (NI) Order 2006 and regulations
made there under additional inspection activity will be required to ensure compliance
with the legislation. Whilst this will largely be monitored during routine food, health
and safety, consumer protection, etc inspection work, specific advisory and
compliance checks will also necessary. This will again have a considerable knock on
effect against the planned inspection programme.
7.7.4 Visits to New or Previously Unregistered Premsies
Additional inspection will always arise during the year by virtue of new business
start-ups, major alterations/refurbishments and requests for inspection. This equates
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
to approximately 90 inspections per annum. A risk rating will be applied to premises
once a visit has been made.
7.7.5 Revisits
Revisits to premises to check compliance will not normally be carried out due to
staffing constraints. They will only be undertaken where the initial inspection has not
been concluded or where a visit is necessary to evaluate effectiveness of
interventions, take enforcement action or check compliance with enforcement notices.
7.7.6 Planned Special Interventions, Surveys or Enforcement Initiatives
The health and safety service intends to participate fully in regional initiatives planned
for the 2008/09 year and which are being co-ordinated by the local authority health
and safety liaison group.
On a group level, Ballymena Borough Council also intends to participate in
enforcement initiatives or other planned interventions which are identified for action
by the Health, Safety and Licensing sub group in their annual work plan.
NB: Initiatives can include premises requiring inspection within the planned
inspection programme.
7.7.7 Accident Investigation and Complaints
The health and safety team will ensure that all accidents are considered in accordance
with the N.C.E.H.O.F. Incident Investigation Procedure. Investigations will be
targeted at the most serious incidents, specifically death or major injury. Staffing
constraints are likely to restrict additional investigations into incidents arising out of
activities outlined in the HELANI Strategic Plan which would previously have been
investigated by the team.
Complaints will be investigated in accordance with the NCEHOF
Complaint Investigation Procedure.
Health and safety matters which are not the responsibility of the
Council are referred to the HSENI or the relevant local authority, as
appropriate.
7.7.8 Advice to Business and Provision of Training
The health and safety team operates under an educative role as well as an enforcement
role and encourages businesses to contact officers to seek assistance. Officers deal
with specific requests for advice from premises within the area and advice is also
provided as an integral part of the inspection process and the investigation of
complaints and accidents. Officers are able to provide businesses with a wide range
of guidance materials offering health, safety and welfare advice. Topical guidance
booklets are also produced in-house and distributed to businesses as needs/feedback
dictates. Examples include the revised ‘Safety in the Solarium’
and ‘Guidance on skin piercing for operators’.
The service provides health and safety training courses for local
businesses and details of courses run by other organisations,
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
including local colleges are also provided during inspection on request.
The department intends to continue providing training courses for local businesses as
demand dictates, and will support the HELANI strategy by participating in regional
and national events that are relevant to local authority enforced businesses.
7.7.9 Lead Authority Partnership Scheme/Home Authority
Ballymena Borough Council recognises the benefits of HELA’s lead Authority
Partnership Scheme (LAPS) which encourages local authorities to form partnerships
with businesses whose head office or main business base is located within the
Borough, with a view to promoting consistency of local authority enforcement among
organisations with multiple premises in different areas.
Ballymena Borough Council currently acts (on an informal basis) as home authority
for 15 health and safety premises.
The health and safety enforcement service also has regard to HELA’s lead authority
Partnership Scheme when carrying out day to day enforcement duties and ensures that
appropriate contact, and if necessary, liaison is established with relevant Lead
Authority at any early stage.
7.7.10 Partnership Working and the Engagement of Stakeholders
Ballymena Borough Council’s health and safety team is fully committed to a process
of engagement with stakeholders in order to maximise effective use of resources and
achievement of desired outcomes.
To date the team have partnered with a number of other enforcement agencies in order
to improve channels of communication, to avoid duplication of effort and ease burden
on business. A brief description of the partnerships are listed below, all of which
continue to ‘run’ from year to year as they have proved themselves to be successful.
• Northern Ireland Fire and Resuce Service
This is a joint enforcement approach to safety issues in the retail sector during the run
up to the Christmas trading period. Health and safety officers team up with Fire
Service personnel to carry out a series of spot checks throughout the Borough to
monitor fire safety and health and safety standards.
The combined approach avoids unnecessary duplication of enforcement and promotes
greater understanding of roles between enforcement authorities.
• PSNI/Building Control re Town Centre Safety Issues
This is a partnership involving the PSNI, the Town Centre Manager and the Council’s
licensing officer to address town centre safety issues such as drinking in the streets
and registration and training of door supervisors. It also will continue to address the
issue of sale of restricted goods to under 18’s, e.g. lighter fuel, knives, cigarettes,
aerosols etc.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
The team has well established links to both voluntary and statutory agencies as well as
trade and professional bodies as members of local network groups such as ‘Ballymena
Town Centre Partnership’, ‘Ballymena Safer Working Group’ ‘Ballymena Chamber
of Commerce’ and ‘Ballymena Retailers Against Crime’. Such links allow the team
to readily identify local issues and react accordingly.
This department is unsure of the level of commitment which can be given to this
initiative due to staff constraints, however will endeavour to participate should
resources permit.
• Schools and retailers re Tobacco control
In recognition of the potential for engaging with the educational,
community and voluntary sectors as partners for the delivery of
information and training, officers of the health and safety
service will continue to work with PSNI, the District Policing
Partnership, business representatives and local secondary schools to tackle the issue of
sale of tobacco to young persons. In particular staff will continue to support and
encourage the use of the UK citizen card by young persons within the Borough.
• HSENI
The health and safety team intend to maintain and build on the partnership between
Ballymena Borough Council and HSENI by proactively sharing information and
making contributions for mutual benefit.
7.7.10 Local Events: Partnership Approach
The department will continue to engage with organisations and individuals
responsible for local events and attractions such as Ballymena Agricultural Show,
Ballymena Steam Traction Engine Rally by working in partnership with them and all
the involved statutory agencies from the planning stage. This should minimise the
burden on local event organisers to ensure compliance with statutory obligations from
a variety of sources.
7.8 Improving the Service
The health and safety service provided by the department with continue to be kept
under review to ensure that it is customer focused, targeted and resource effective.
Officers will prompt feedback from businesses on service delivery standards during
routine inspections and this mechanism, along with the new departmental feedback
section on the website, will be used to identify and implement suggestions for
improved ways of working.
The service is due to undergo an audit by NGS officers in July 2008. Areas identified
for improvement will be prioritised and time banded for action to ensure service
delivery is maximised. The findings including the resultant action plan will be
documented in the 2008-9 plan review and any outstanding matters included in the
service plan for 2009-10.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Work to ensure the Council’s website contains relevant and up to date information on
health and safety matters will be ongoing.
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8.0 FOOD SAFETY
8.1
Aims and Objectives
(i) Aims
To protect consumers of food by ensuring that all food manufactured, prepared or
supplied within the district:
• Complies with the food safety requirements and is of the nature, substance and
quality demanded
• Is an acceptable quality and composition and is accurately labelled, presented
and advertised.
To protect and promote the health of the public through health education, consumer
awareness and participation in multi-disciplinary health promotion activities.
(ii) Objectives
• To inspect all food hygiene premises, as per the recommended frequencies
based on risk assessment, assess food handling practices, identify hazards and
take appropriate action to remedy problems identified
• To inspect all food standards premises, as per the recommended frequencies
based on risk assessment, to ensure that all legal requirements are met in
relation to the quality, composition, labelling and advertising of food
• To carry out a proactive and reactive food sampling programme for
microbiological examination
• To carry out a proactive and reactive programme for chemical analysis
• To investigate complaints relating to food, food premises and practices
• To investigate all incidences of food borne illness as notified by Northern
Health and Social Care Trust or members of the public
• To respond to all food alerts in accordance with the Food Law Code of
Practice (NI)
• To undertake all home authority responsibilities with respect to food produced
within the Borough
• To provide advice as necessary on food safety related issues
• To undertake health promotion/education activities.
8.2
Scope of the Food Service
The Department is responsible for the enforcement of the Food Safety (NI) Order
1991, Food Hygiene Regulations (NI) 2006, Official Feed and Food Controls
Regulations (NI) 2006, approved codes of practice and ancillary legislation made
hereunder. This will be achieved by the following:
• Inspections
• Response work
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
• Sampling
• Service management
• Service promotion
• Food Safety education
Food inspections are generally carried out independently, but low risk premises may
be inspected in conjunction with low risk health and safety and/or consumer
protection inspections, through liaison with the relevant Senior Environmental Health
Officer.
8.3
Specialist Services
As and when required the Councils uses the following specialist services to assist in
meeting targets outlined in the plan:
Northern Group Systems
Links to Organisation of Specialist support on Monitoring Food Co-ordinating
NIFLG sampling regimes complex issues Role Role
Also:
• Public Health Laboratory Service – Belfast City Hospital
• Virology Laboratory – Royal Victoria Hospital
• Antrim Area Hospital Laboratory
• Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Northern Ireland
• Eurofins Public Analyst
• Private Laboratories
• Northern Health and Social Care Trust
• Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre
• North Eastern Education and Library Board
• Food Standards Agency
• Department of Rural Development
Access to specialist advice is also available from the following:
• Collindale
• Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association
• LACORS
• Health Promotion Agency
• Legal Representatives
Other departments within the Council may also be used as and when required e.g.
Building Control.
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8.4 Demands of the Food Service
Ballymena Borough Council has 914 food premises currently open (as at 1st April
2008) for which the authority has food enforcement responsibility. However five of
these premises fall within the remit of the Environmental Health Department for Food
Standards purposes only. Currently 242 premises are considered so low risk that they
are excluded from the inspection programme for both food hygiene and food
standards, however advice on good practice etc. has been distributed to these
premises. This figure has risen significantly since 2006/7 due to registration of
childminders within the borough.
Premises per MAFF Category
MAFF Code Number of Percentage of
Premises Premises
A Producers 2 0.23
B Slaughter Houses 5 0.57
C Manufacturers/Processors 43 4.70
D Packers 0 0.00
E Importers/Exporters 0 0.00
F Distributors 11 1.20
G Retailers 152 16.6
H Restaurants and Other Caterers 701 76.7
I Materials/Articles Manufacturers 0 0.00
Total 914 100
Premises per Risk Category
Risk Category Number of Premises Percentage of Premises
A 0 0.0
B 48 7.2
C 299 44.6
D 166 24.8
E 156 23.3
F 1 0.1
U 11
Outside Programme 242
Total 923 100
The large number of premises outside the programme is attributed to:
• Premises such as market stalls that trade in the borough are stored on the
departmental database as separate premises. However these traders do not
receive a risk score as they are not based within the Borough.
• 13 Premises, the majority of which are church/chapel halls, are considered so
low risk as to not require inclusion in the inspection programme
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
• 224 Childminder’s premises that are not inspected but are included in the
database to allow information to be circulated as required.
• 5 premises that are within the department’s remit for food standards inspection
only.
(a) Product Specific Establishments
There are currently 10 product specific establishments that are subject to approval
under Regulation 853/2004 laying down detailed hygiene rules for food of animal
origin.
(b) Home Authority Premises
The Council acts as home authority for 35 premises.
(c) Current Issues
Current issues liable to impact on the demands of the service in the forthcoming year
are:
• FSA and/or NGS Auditing. These issues necessitate a higher percentage time
spend and officer expertise.
• Introduction of a new Food Law Code of Practice which may provide
flexibility to move away from the current inspection based approach for lower
risk premises. This may allow the opportunity to use resources more
effectively in other areas of food service delivery e.g. nutrition and “scores on
the doors”. However the change in approach may take some organisation and
time to bed in.
8.5
Food Safety Resources and Reporting Structure
Mr A A Kinghorn
Director of Environmental Health Services
Mrs N McCall
Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer
Mrs E Logan (100%)
Senior Environmental Health Officer
E J Logan C Muldoon# K Bruce J McIlroy
(50%) (75%) (10%) (100%)
EHO EHO EHO EHO
Food Safety Team
#
Currently on maternity leave estimated return July (temporary staff providing cover)
8.6 Contact Information
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Officer Post Telephone E Mail Address
Number
A Kinghorn Director of EH 028 2566 0380 Alex.kinghorn@ballymena.gov.uk
N McCall Deputy Chief 028 2566 0375 Nicola.mccall@ballymena.gov.uk
E Logan Senior EHO 028 2566 0378 Elaine.logan.@ballymena.gov.uk
K Bruce EHO 028 2566 0379 Karen.bruce@ballymena.gov.uk
E J Logan EHO 028 2566 0477 Elise.logan@ballymena.gov.uk
J McIlroy EHO 028 2566 0388 Janine.mcilroy@ballymena.gov.uk
C Muldoon EHO 028 2566 0387 Catriona.muldoon@ballymena.gov.uk
M Carson EHO (temp) 028 2566 0431 Michelle.Carson@ballymena.gov.uk
C McNally EHO (temp) 028 2566 0377 Claire.mcnally@ballymena.gov.uk
An emergency response system is available for notification of infectious diseases,
food poisoning outbreaks etc. via the NHSCT who have been supplied with out-of-
hours contact details for several senior officers within the department. A general
environmental health department emergency telephone number is provided in the
phone book for public use.
8.7
Food Safety Enforcement/Service Delivery
Ballymena Borough Council is currently committed to a risk based approach to
enforcement, concentrating on areas that need tackled most. Our aim is to balance
proactive, reactive and promotional elements and to work in accordance with our
enforcement policies and external guidance.
The Council has adopted specific enforcement policies for Food Safety and Food
Standards based on the Enforcement Concordat produced by the Better Regulation
Unit of the Cabinet Office, and Crown Prosecution Service guidelines for prosecutors.
Food businesses and the general public are given the opportunity of consulting our
policy at any reasonable time, either in person or via the Council web-site
(www.ballymena.gov.uk)
We continue our commitment to the maintenance of an accurate and up-to-date
premises database, and to the provision of fully trained and competent staff to
undertake food control work.
(a) Food Hygiene Programmed Inspections (position as at 1st April 2008)
Risk Frequency Number of Number of Task Time Total
Category (months) Premises Tasks (Hrs*) Hours
A 6 0 0 6 0
B 12 48 48 4 192
C 18 299 190# 3 570
D 24 166 97 2.5 242.5
E 36 156 47 2 94
F 60 1 1 1.75 1.75
U 11 11 2.5 27.5
* Task times used are standard times as agreed by the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum. These times include administrative and travel times.
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#
Seven outstanding inspection from previous year carried forward.
It should be noted that at any given time there will be a fluctuating level of
uncategorized “U” premises (currently 11). This is due to:
• Turnover of food businesses within the Borough. Thus “new” premises also
necessitate inspection to assess the associated risks and compliance with all
relevant legislation, thereby facilitating the programming of future inspections.
(b) Food Hygiene Re-visits
Risk Frequency Number of Number of Task Time Total Time
Category % Inspections Re-Visits (Hrs*)
A 70% 0 0 2.0 0
B 50% 48 24 1.25 30
C 30% 190 57 1.25 71.25
D 10% 97 10 1.25 12.5
E 5% 47 2 1.0 2
F 1% 1 0 1.0 0
U 11 11 1.25 13.75
* Task times used are standard times as agreed by the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum. These times include inspection, administrative and travel times.
(c) Food Standards Programmed Inspections (Position at 1st April 2008)
Risk Frequency Number of Number of Task Time Total
Category (months) Premises Tasks (Hrs*) Hours
A 12 3 3 5 15
B 24 119 46 3 138
C 60 551 58# 2 116
* Task times used are standard times as agreed by the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum. These times include inspection, administrative and travel times.
#
Two outstanding inspection from previous year carried forward.
(d) Food Standards Re-visits
Risk Frequency Number of Number of Task Time Total
Category (%) Inspections Revisits (Hrs*) Hours
A 100% 3 3 1.75 5.25
B 10% 46 5 1.0 5
C 0% 58 0 1.0 0
* Task times used are standard times as agreed by the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum. These times include inspection, administrative and travel times.
(e) Specialist/Complex Activities
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Additional Time spend for Food Hygiene and Food Standards for more
complex/specialist activities:
Activity Number of Additional Time Total Time
Tasks Spend (Hrs) (Hrs)
Product Specific Establishments 10 16 160
HACCP 35 2 70
Complaints re premises 10 2 20
Special Events 2 4 8
Inspection of new premises 25 4 100
The Council may seek additional specialist services from Northern Group Systems
when necessary. Other expertise to assist with such activities may be obtained from
outside agencies as outlined in paragraph 8.3.
(f) Food Complaints
The Council intends to continue to fully implement the approved
food complaints policy and procedure. The likely demand on the
service is based on trends in the past 2 years as detailed below.
Number of Complaints Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
50 7.0 350
(g) Home Authority Principle
The Council intends to continue to fully implement the approved Home Authority
Principle, policy and procedure. In order to do so it is estimated that the following
additional resource is required.
Number of Premises Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
35 5.0 175
(h) Advice to business
The Council intends to continue to provide advice and support to business in line with
the approved Enforcement Concordat policy. The likely demand on the service is
based on trends in the past two years as detailed below.
Number of Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
Advisory/Planning Visits
25 1 25
(i) Food Safety Education
The following training initiatives may be available to businesses as required.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Course Number Teaching Total Time
Time (Hrs)
CIEH Level 2 Food Safety in Catering 5 7 35
CIEH Intermediate Food Hygiene 1 23 23
General Hygiene Talks 5 3 15
Requests for training courses may also be referred to other agencies such as:
• Approved Further and Higher Education Colleges
• Approved private sector tutors
• Other district councils
(j) Food Inspection and Sampling
The Council intends to continue to fully implement the approved
chemical and microbiological sampling policies and programmes
in accordance with the NIFLG document - Food Sampling Policies
and Associated Guidance (February 2001).
The Council intends to continue to fully implement its enforcement
policy and enforcement concordat where sample results are not
considered to be satisfactory.
The Council has appointed Eurofins Public Analysts to carry out the analysis of food
samples procured within the Borough.
The Public Health Laboratory at Belfast City Hospital will carry out the examination
of food samples procured within the Borough.
Microbiological Sampling
A microbiological sampling programme has been drawn up based upon a sampling
level of eight per thousand of the population. This risk-based programme includes
• Samples required for ongoing province-wide surveys in association with FSA
and LACORS
• Home authority premises samples (twice per year)
• Product Specific Establishments samples (three time per year)
• Catering and retail premises samples
• Private water supplies samples (water as an ingredient)
Number of Food Number of Water Task Time Total Time
Samples Samples (Hrs) (Hrs)
260 15 0.5 137.5
NB Swabs may be taken in special circumstances, e.g. investigation of food
poisoning outbreaks, and under guidance from the Public Health Laboratory.
Chemical Sampling
As in previous years, a food standards sampling programme has been
compiled by the members of the food team. This sampling programme
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
is based upon target levels of 1.5 per thousand of the population of the Borough. The
team members have taken a decision that resources can be more effectively utilised
by, informal sampling, and only using formal samples when a contravention of
relevant legislation is identified. It is also felt that more in house testing of appropriate
samples can be used to assist in the targeting of formal samples, (e.g. malachite green
testing of minced meat samples, specific gravity bead test for alcohol samples).
The department intends to continue its current levels of participation in
LACORS/FSA sampling initiatives and to target our informal sampling around
current topical health issues such as fat and salt levels in food products.
Number of Nature of Task Time Total Time
Samples Samples (Hrs) (Hrs)
110 Informal 0.5 55
(k) Investigation of Outbreaks and Food Related Infectious Disease
The Council will continue to investigate all outbreaks and food related infectious
disease in accordance with the NHSSB, NGS and Northern
Chief Officers Forum procedures in outbreak control and
sporadic food borne illness.
Whilst it is not possible to predict the demand on resources
arising from outbreaks, trends over the past two years would
indicate a time spend of 50 hours per investigation. This may
increase appreciably depending on the scale of the outbreak and
any enforcement action arising from the investigation.
Number of Type of Task Time Total Time
Investigations Investigation (Hrs) (Hrs)
1 Outbreak 50 50
6 Sporadic 4 24
(l) Food Safety Incidents
The Council will continue to respond to food hazard warnings and voluntary
surrender incidents in accordance with; Food Law Code of Practice (NI), and
procedures BBC/FC/PRO /004, FC/PRO/C005 and FC/PRO/C014.
The likely demand on the service is based on the trend over the past two years as
detailed below.
Food Alerts
Number of Food Alert Task Time Total Time
(For Action) (Hrs) (Hrs)
5 7.0 35
Number of Food Alert Task Time Total Time
(For Information) (Hrs) (Hrs)
70 0.5 35
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Voluntary Surrender/Unsound Food
Number of Task Time Total Time
Tasks (Hrs) (Hrs)
6 3 18
(m) Liaison with Other Organisations
Specialist support to the district councils in the food function is available from
Northern Group Systems through the Principal EHO (Consumer Services) and the
Assistant Principal EHO (Consumer Services).
Province-wide all district councils and groups participate in the Director of
Environmental Health Officers Group which formed a sub-group the Northern Ireland
Food Liaison Group. The NIFLG comprises principal Officers (Food) from the four
groups, Head of Consumer Protection (Belfast City Council) and a representative
from the district councils. The NIFLG interacts with various government departments
and agencies to ensure a consistent approach to the food function province-wide. It is
also an integral part of LACORS with representation on both LACORS food hygiene
and food standards committees. This approach ensures consistency across the UK.
Other UK wide consistency is evident when for example FSA (NI), CDSC (NI)
representatives from Public Health Laboratory etc. address this group on common
issues within the food function.
The Food Safety Promotion Board addressing communicable disease control within
all 32 counties, and involving amongst others the NHSSB, NGS and district councils
shows an example of an all Ireland approach.
(n) Food Safety Promotion
The following promotional activities will continue to be undertaken:
• Food Safety Week
• Christmas Promotions
• Promotional Literature (guidance/good practice)
• Press Releases
• Eat Safe Award
• Bee Safe Initiative
The effectiveness of the promotions will be assessed using e.g. the evaluation
methodology available for Food Safety Week, response levels to competitions and
follow up surveys of representative samples of those involved.
(o) Departmental Officer Resource
The resource available in terms of officer hours for the delivery of the food service is
as follows:
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Officer Percentage Available Hours
Director 5% 91
Deputy Chief 15% 170
Senior EHO 96% 1616
EHO’s 71% 3991
NGS (412)
NB: The allocation of officer time has been based on time accounting records for
the year 2006/2007. Time accrued by temporary staff covering absence has been
included. However as previously mentioned due to changes imposed during
Ballymena Borough Council’s efficiency review there will be a significant reduction
in the officer hours available to all core functions during the year 2007/2008.
(p) Staffing Allocation
• Number of full time equivalent (FTE) clerical staff - 3
• Number of full time equivalent (FTE) food EHO’s – 3.2
Officer FTE Risk Category
(Hrs) A B C D E
A Kinghorn 77 X X X X X
N McCall 231 X X
E Logan (SEHO) 1660
K Bruce 118
E Logan 1096
J McIlroy 1429 X X
C Muldoon* 8
Temp EHO’s 746 X X
* Due to maternity cover C Muldoon was reassigned to Environmental Protection in 2007/8
9.0 Consumer Protection
9.1
Aims and Objectives
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
(i) Aims
• To protect the consumer against the risk of injury from all unsafe goods by
ensuring that those which are manufactured, supplied and /or utilised within
the Borough are safe, fit for use, of genuine quality and
correctly labelled.
• To protect and promote the safety of the public through
home safety education, consumer awareness and
participation in home safety and health promotion
initiatives.
(ii) Objectives
• To implement and maintain a planned inspection/market surveillance
programme for premises manufacturing, importing, distributing or otherwise
supplying goods within the Borough. The frequency of inspection will be
based upon risk assessment.
• To maintain and continually update a register of all premises supplying
regulated goods within the Borough.
• To investigate all complaints regarding the safety of consumer goods.
• To respond to all hazard warnings regarding the safety of regulated goods and
relevant Rapex Alerts.
• To provide information and advice on issues relating to the safety of goods
• To undertake market surveillance surveys as co-ordinated by Northern Group
Systems, and participate in regional and national campaigns as deemed
appropriate.
• To effectively manage the consumer protection function ensuring appropriate
targeting of resources and a balanced approach to achieving the supply of safe
and compliant consumer goods within the Borough.
• To undertake home safety and health promotion activities
• To fulfil our duty under Article 6 of the Children and Young Persons
(Protection from Tobacco) (NI) Order 1991 by considering carrying out
enforcement action relating to offences connected with the sale of tobacco to
young persons.
9.2 Scope of the Consumer Protection Service
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
The Environmental Health Department is responsible for the enforcement of the
Consumer Protection Act 1987 and regulations made there under. The Department is
also responsible for the enforcement of a range of consumer safety regulations which
implement the safety provisions of various European Community Directives. The
department will discharge its Consumer Protection function using a series of
interventions. These include:-
• Planned general inspections
• Planned product based inspections
• Initial inspections to new premises
• Reactive work (i.e. Investigation of complaints, providing advice and
information etc)
• Sampling
• Service management
• Service promotion
• Consumer education and awareness campaigns.
Consumer protection inspections are generally carried out independently, but low risk
premises may be inspected in conjunction with low risk food safety and/or health and
safety inspections, through liaison with the relevant senior
officer.
The Consumer Protection team in an attempt to make more
effective use of resources will continue where possible to
replace general inspections with product specific ones.
Products selected will be based on product range within
premises due for routine inspections over the twelve month
period of this plan and problems identified in the course of
routine enforcement work i.e. complaints, Rapex Alerts etc. In addition due to limited
staff resources alternative strategies will be used for lower risk premises in place of
inspections e.g. questionnaires, surveys etc.
9.3
Demands of the Consumer Protection Service
Ballymena Borough Council has 751 commercial premises currently open as at (1st
April 2008) for which the authority has consumer protection enforcement
responsibility. They fall into the following categories:
Premises Type Number of Premises Percentage of Premises
Manufacturers 38 5.1%
Wholesalers 24 3.2%
Retailers 622 82.8%
Construction 67 8.9%
Total 751 100%
(a) Home Authority Premises
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Ballymena Borough Council acts, on an informal basis, as home authority for 84
Consumer Protection premises. During the period of this plan Consumer Protection
activities will be prioritised at Home Authority premises.
(b) Current Issues
Current issues likely to impact upon the demands of the service for the forthcoming
year are:
• Review of the premises database regarding programmed inspection and risk
assessment
• The shift from general inspections to product specific inspections will
continue to impact upon resources and prioritising Home Authority premises
• Product specific surveys
• Home safety promotional activities
• Implementation of a construction products sampling initiative to progress
work carried out over the previous two years with construction products
manufacturers
• Provision of appropriate advice to suppliers of cigarette lighters regarding the
European Commission Decision on child resistant and novelty lighters.
• The continued rise in Rapex Alert notifications in line with a seven fold
increase since 2003.
9.4 Consumer Protection Resources and Reporting Structure
Mr A A Kinghorn
Director of Environmental Health Services
Mrs N McCall
Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer
Mrs J Coulter
Senior Environmental Health Officer
S Lagan* S Mills
EHO (95%) EHO (12.5%)
* Officer applied for part time additional agency staff will provide cover
This equates to a full time equivalent (FTE) of 1.075 officers.
9.5 Contact Information
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Officer Post Tel. No. E mail Address
A Kinghorn Director 028 2566 0380 Alex.kinghorn@ballymena.gov.uk
N McCall Deputy Chief 028 2566 0375 Nicola.mccall@ballymena.gov.uk
J Coulter Senior EHO 028 2566 0392 Juliet.coulter@ballymena.gov.uk
S Lagan EHO 028 2566 0394 Shauna.lagan@ballymena.gov.uk
S Mills EHO 028 2566 0377 Sam.mills@ballymena.gov.uk
The Consumer Protection Service operates from the Council Offices between 9:00am
and 5:00pm Monday to Friday. An out of hours service is carried out where
necessary. An emergency telephone number for the Environmental Health
Department is provided in the telephone directory for public use.
9.6 Consumer Protection Enforcement/Service Delivery
The Council intends to continue to carry out consumer protection inspections for
compliance with the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and associated legislation, at a
minimum frequency as determined by the risk scoring system contained in the
Northern Group Chief Officers Forum documented procedure No. 9 – Premises Risk
Assessment.
A product based inspection approach is about focussing resources where they are
likely to have the greatest impact. We intend to continue to concentrate on products
with specific relevant standards and products identified as unsafe or problematic by
other enforcement authorities. As highlighted previously due to limited staff
resources alternative strategies will also be used e.g. questionnaires, surveys etc.
Our aim is to balance proactive, reactive and promotional elements and to work in
accordance with our enforcement policy and external guidance.
We continue our commitment to the maintenance of an accurate and up-to-date
premises database, and to the provision of fully trained and competent staff to
undertake consumer safety work.
The Council intends to continue to carry out Consumer Protection activities in
accordance with the following approved policies:
• Home Authority Principle
• Ballymena Borough Council Enforcement Policy
• Enforcement Concordat
• Consumer Protection Resource Allocation
(a) Consumer Protection Programmed Inspections (Position at 1st April 2008)
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
During the year 2008/2009 the planned inspections are as follows:
Risk Frequency Number of Task Time Total Time
Category (Months) Tasks (Hrs*) (Hrs)
High 12 1 5 5
Medium 24 122 4 488
Low 60 79 2.5 197.5
Market 6 2 3 6.0
* Task times used are standard times as agreed by the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum. These times include inspection time, administrative and travel time.
In addition there are 135 outstanding inspections from the year 2007/8 therefore the
aim will be to include these as part of product based inspections during the period of
this plan.
(b) Specialist/Complex Activities
The following activities require additional time spend for consumer protection.
Activity Estimated Task Time Total Time
Additional Tasks (Hrs) (Hrs)
Product Specific Surveys 2 35 70
Home Safety Promotion 2 15 30
Enquiries 20 0.5 10
Legal Proceedings 1 10 10
The Council may seek additional specialist services from Northern Group Systems for
specialist or complex premises, complaints and enquiries.
(c) Home Authority Premises
The Council intends to provide advice to these premises on an informal basis,
implementing the Home Authority Principle, policy and procedure. It is estimated that
the following resource is required.
Risk Frequency Number of Number of Task Time Total Time
Category (Months) Premises Tasks (Hrs*) (Hrs)
High 12 1 1 5 5
Medium 24 41 20 5 100
Low 60 42 8 5 40
(d) Consumer Protection Complaints
The Council intends to continue to fully implement the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum approved complaints investigation procedure. The likely demand on
the service is based on trends over the past two years, as detailed below.
Number of Complaints Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
8 10 80
(e) Consumer Protection Sampling
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
The Council intends to continue to fully implement the approved sampling procedure.
Such sampling includes:
• Test purchases of suspect consumer goods
• Test purchases of goods subject to complaint
The likely demand on the service in this respect is based on trends over the past two
years, as detailed below.
Number of Tasks Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
5 4 20
(f) Hazard Warnings/Rapex Alerts
The Council intends to continue to fully implement the Northern Group Chief
Officers Forum approved Hazard Warning Procedure upon receipt and issuing of all
hazard warnings. The likely demand on the service is based on trends over the last
two years, as detailed below. The introduction of the General Product Safety
Regulations 2005 strengthened the EU rapid alert system for dangerous products
(RAPEX). The Council intends responding to all relevant Rapex Alerts.
Number of Hazard Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
Warnings
15 3 45
(g) Health Promotion and Home Safety
The following promotional activities will continue to be undertaken:
• Child Safety Week
• Fireworks safety
• No Smoking Day
• Press releases
• Participation in Home Accident Prevention and Investing for
Health initiatives where appropriate e.g. Bee Safe
• Supporting partnership arrangements for developing the Home Accident
Prevention five year programme and the Child Accident Prevention Strategy
• Support and where possible develop the use of the Council Website to assist
public and supplier information access
The effectiveness of these initiatives will be assessed by, evaluating the response
levels to competitions and follow up surveys of representative samples of those
involved.
(h) Tobacco Control Activities
In fulfilment of our duty under Article 6 of the Children and Young Persons
(Protection from Tobacco)(N.I) Order 1991 the Council intends to continue
promotion of the Citizen Card Scheme and further awareness campaigns.
10.0 Environmental Protection
45
Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
10.1
Aims and Objectives
(i) Aims
• To safeguard the public against the effects of environmental pollution whether
in water, air, land or noise.
• To inspect the Borough to protect its inhabitants against public health
nuisances.
• To fulfil the departments obligation pertaining to the privately rented housing
sector.
(ii) Objectives
• To investigate all complaints from commercial, industrial and domestic
premises.
• To monitor, review and assess seven statutory defined air pollutants against
United Kingdom air quality objectives in Ballymena Borough. To provide
regular reporting and update to Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) on
air quality, and actively monitor the levels of particulate matter, (PM10)
sulphur dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) within the Borough.
• To permit and monitor all Part C installations which are operating under the
Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (NI) 2003 (PPC). To act as a
consultee to EHS on Part A/B process permits and to maintain the public
register of relevant PPC information.
• To respond to consultations from the Planning Service in accordance with the
Service Level Agreement.
• To investigate all public health nuisances arising within the Borough.
• To provide advice on all environmental protection matters to all sections of the
community.
• To promote sustainable development and assist in the Councils Local Agenda
21 process.
• To devise a local contaminated land database and actively address
contaminated land through the planning process.
• To effectively manage the resources of the environmental protection unit and
to provide a cost effective high quality service.
• To carry out all other functions in relation to environmental protection
enforcement, promptly and efficiently and in accordance with the Council’s
enforcement policy and relevant mandatory guidance.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
10.2 Scope of the Environmental Protection Service
The Environmental Protection sector covers a broad spectrum of legislation and
duties, such as:
• Pollution Prevention and Control
• Radiation and Radioactivity monitoring
• Public health nuisances
• Partnership working and community safety
• Air quality monitoring, modelling, reviews and action planning
• Pollution control complaints, requests for advice etc
• Housing regulation
• Harassment and illegal eviction.
• Anti-Social Behaviour
• Contaminated Land
10.3
Demands of the Environmental Protection Service
The majority of work in this area is reactive by nature and cannot therefore be
categorised in the manner applied to the other core functions. The figures shown
below are estimates based on the trends of the previous two years.
Activity Number of Task Time Total Time
Tasks (Hrs) (Hrs)
Private Tenancies Order 65 5.0 325
Planning Applications 400 1 400
100 5 500
Air Quality Management, Update and 1 800 800
Screening Assessment, Action
Planning and Grant Application.
(a) Current Issues
New and emerging issues likely to increase the demands upon the service for the
forthcoming year are:
• Air Quality review and assessment continues to require more
officer time with a detailed assessment required to assess air
pollution from road traffic. Depending upon the outcome of this
assessment Air Quality Management areas may need to be
declared. It is hoped to revoke the existing AQMA within
Dunclug.
• Private tenancies legislation has been in place since April 2007, which
requires considerable time spend on both inspection and administrative
activities, staff training and research for the enforcement of this new
legislative duty.
• Increased time spend on contaminated land through our work as statutory
consultees to planning service through the development and control regime.
Further new enforcement powers are coming to district council, although it is
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
unclear whether the commencement order will be
made before April 2008. Again prior to the
commencement of powers there will be
considerable time spend on staff training and
preparation for the enforcement of this new
legislative duty.
Continuing issues, which will impact upon the demands upon the service for the
forthcoming year, are:
• Planning consultations – although the number of consultations has greatly
decreased, the nature and complexity has significantly impacted upon staff
resource.
• Working Partnerships such as
Northern Neighbourhoods Health Action Zone
Community Safety
Investing for Health (Working, Living and Environmental Health)
Environmental Health, Housing Executive and PSNI regarding anti-
social behaviour consultation.
• Pollution Prevention and Control enforcement this year will include new
processes coming into the borough, existing businesses increasing their
throughput and as such requiring permitting. Some of these premises involve
highly complex processes, which require a much greater input in terms of officer
time spend.
• Air Quality Management continues to demand an increasing resource in terms of
officer time. Three real time analysers for sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and
nitrogen oxides still remain operational requiring routine monitoring and
calibration. Air Quality Management Areas remain in force although it is
anticipated that one may be revoked and the other may be amended/revoked.. This
has and will continue to involve considerable time spend of Environmental
Protection Officers. Air Quality Grant application will be submitted for funding in
respect of detailed assessment and modelling and educational resources. This bid
will again involve considerable time spend.
• Despite the changes in legislation relating to waste disposal this department
remains the first point of call regarding requests for advice, complaints relating to
illegal waste disposal. With our subsequent liaison with the Environment and
Heritage Service this has and will continue to result in considerable officer time
spend.
10.4
Environmental Protection Resources and Reporting Structure
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Mr A Kinghorn
Director of Environmental Health Services
Mrs N McCall
Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer
Mrs Sinead Sargent*
Senior EHO
Derek O’Kane Temporary# Kevin Woodin Karen Bruce
TA (60%) EHO (50%) EHO (100%) EHO (10%)
Environmental Protection Team
* Senior post currently filled by Mrs Karen Bruce
#
Permanent post currently vacant cover provided by agency staff
10.5
Service Delivery
Officer Post Telephone E-Mail Address
Number
A Kinghorn Director of EH 028 2566 0380 Alex.kinghorn@ballymena.gov.uk
N McCall Deputy Chief 028 2566 0375 Nicola.mccall@ballymena.gov.uk
S Sargent Senior EHO 028 2566 0431 Sinead.sargent@ballymena.gov.uk
K Bruce EHO 028 2566 0379 Karen.bruce@ballymena.gov.uk
K Woodin EHO 028 2566 0374 Kevin.woodin@ballymena.gov.uk
D O’Kane T. Assistant 028 2566 0381 Derek.o’kane@ballymena.gov.uk
C McNally EHO (temp) 028 2566 0377 Claire.mcnally@ballymena.gov.uk
F Mullan EHO (temp) 028 2566 0387 Fergal.mullan@ballymena.gov.uk
Complaints within this core function will continue to be fully investigated by the
department. The likely demand on the service is based on trends in the past two years,
as detailed below:
Complaint Type Number of Task Time Total Time
Complaints (Hrs) (Hrs)
Public Health 465 4.0 1860
Harassment/Illegal Eviction 3 10.0 30
Noise (domestic) 225 4.0 900
Noise (commercial) 28 5.0 140
Total 2930
(a) Pollution Prevention and Control Inspections
During the year 2008/2009 the planned inspections are as shown below
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Type of Premises Risk Number of Number Task Total
Category Premises of Tasks Time Time
(Hrs) (Hrs)
Animal Feed Mills H 0 0 0 0
and vegetable M 1 2 6 12
processing L 2 2 6 12
Concrete Batchers H 0 0 0 0
M 0 0 0 0
L 4 4 6 24
Timber Processes H 0 0 0 0
M 1 2 6 12
L 0 0 0 0
Coating Processes H 0 0 0 0
M 2 4 6 24
L 1 1 6 6
Petrol Stations H 0 0 0 0
M 0 0 0 0
L 12 12 4 48
Dry Cleaners H 0 0 0 0
M 0 0 0 0
L 5 5 4 20
Total 166
(b) Additional Duties
Task Number of Task Time Total Time
Tasks (Hrs) (Hrs)
Assessing potential premises 5 8* 40
Revisits/Additional visits 10 1.5 15
Work as statutory consultee 5 20 100
Variations of existing processes 2 30 60
Updating Register 15
Total 230
* This is may be subject to change if upon assessment permitting is required
All necessary inspections are scheduled by dedicated computer software. Inspection
programmes are targeted to ensure inspection rate as recommended by the
Department of the Environment are met.
The quality of the inspections and the administrative requirements are monitored in
accordance with department procedure BBC/GN/PRO/003
(c) Advice to Businesses and Customers
The Council intends to continue to provide advice to businesses, residents etc. The
likely demand on the service is as shown below:
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Enquiries Task Time (Hrs) Total Time (Hrs)
45 0.5 22.5
(d) Sampling
The Council intends to continue to monitor quality of private and public water
supplies in response to requests and/or complaints received by the department. The
Public Health Laboratory at Belfast City Hospital will examine microbiological
samples. Eurofins, Public Analyst will undertake the chemical analysis of samples.
Other independent laboratories will be used as appropriate.
Task Type Number of Task Time Total Time
Tasks (Hrs) (Hrs)
Private Water Supply 52 0.75 39
Radiation Monitoring 2 1.5 3
Diffusion Tubes 192 0.25 48
Real Time Analysers 52 3.0 156
Total 246
(e) Miscellaneous Tasks
The department will continue to undertake other miscellaneous tasks, which although
they do not occur frequently do fall within the Environmental Protection remit, for
example exhumations and approval of chimney heights.
(f) Health Promotion
The following health promotion activities will continue to be undertaken:
• Noise Action Week, working with schools, Northern Ireland Housing
Executive and Police.
• Other initiatives through Investing for Health.
• Work with schools through the new secondary education curriculum.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
11.0 ADMINISTRATIVE, CORPORATE AND OTHER DUTIES
11.1 Aims and Objectives
(i) Aims
• To appraise the Environmental Services Committee of Ballymena Borough
Council and Corporate Management Team of all environmental issues.
• To provide administrative support to the professional and technical staff and to
operate a contact point for enquiries relating to the department’s functions.
(ii) Objectives
• To provide reports to Ballymena Borough Council and its Committees and to
meet the time scale set by Committee Administration
• To provide briefing notes to the Chief Executive and Committee Chairpersons
as required.
• To participate in the Corporate Management Team and assist in corporate
matters as necessary
• To provide a public information service and first point of contact for members
of the public contacting the department
• To provide a quality administrative support service to all the staff within the
department.
11.2 Administrative Resource and Reporting Structure
Mr A A Kinghorn
Director of Environmental Health Services
Mrs N McCall
Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer
Mrs J McKibbin
Office Supervisor & PA to the Director
Miss A Brizzel
Administrative Assistant
Mrs J Lorimer
Clerical Officer (part time)
Administrative Team
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
Appendix I
Corporate Goals (Major Aims)
Continual Improvement of Council Services – We will continually improve our
services and aim for excellence for all our services by:
▪ Maximising all new opportunities
▪ Raising standards whilst being cost effective
▪ Identifying and improving poor performing services
▪ Aiming to be in the top quartile, when compared to other Councils, for both cost
effectiveness and quality, for all our services.
Civic Leadership and Scrutiny Role - The Council will strive to offer true civic
leadership and represent the interests of all our citizens. We feel empathy with our
communities and we will work for the good of all. We will work tirelessly to
scrutinise all new policy generated by central government to ensure it represents the
best interests of all residents of the Borough.
Strategic Development – We welcome change as a positive stimulus and we aim to
maximise the potential of the area through working in partnership with all other
relevant agencies to ensure the development of the Borough. We will strive to further
build strong relationships with our partners. Where possible we will share our vision
and aims to help maximise opportunities and combat threats. We aim to remain the
focal point for commerce, trade and industry in County Antrim and we will drive
forward an Integrated Development Plan for the Borough. We will commit the
necessary resources to help ensure the potential of the Borough is maximised.
Environmental Protection – We are committed to the management of the local area in
ways that maintain and improve the environment around us. We will continue to
develop environmentally friendly policies within our own areas of responsibility,
whilst influencing our partners to do the same. At our ecos centre we will continue to
provide examples of best practice on the sustainable uses of our natural resources.
Management of Council Resources and Expectations – The district rate continues to
be the main source of income through which Council services are provided. The use
of financial resources will, however, continue to be monitored, scrutinised and
dispersed to ensure that:
▪ Appropriate economy, efficiency and effectiveness is maintained to reflect Best
Value to the ratepayer.
▪ Innovative, appropriate and sustainable projects are identified which offer quality
services and facilities through out the Borough.
▪ Opportunities are identified for external grant funding
▪ Reasonable and equitable prices are charged for the use of Council facilities and
services where appropriate.
▪ There is access to Council support for appropriate projects across the Borough on
the basis of need and equality.
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Environmental Health Plan 2008/9
▪ Efficiency and communication gains are achieved through the use of new
technology.
▪ Council assets are utilised for the maximum benefit of all residents of the
Borough.
People Development – We aim to give staff the necessary training and development
needed to enable them to realise their full potential. We will consider the further
development of the Investors in People (IIP) process, alongside existing training and
development opportunities. We will continue to integrate robust systems of Health,
Safety and Welfare into all aspects of staff activity.
Public Safety – We aim to work together with our citizens and other agencies, through
our Community Safety Partnership to build safe and strong communities for everyone.
Our Environmental Health and Building Control functions will seek to encourage
development of a healthy, safe and accessible environment for all citizens, through
enforcement of Building Control Na d Environmental Health Regulations.
Effective Communication – We will strive to listen and communicate effectively with
our ratepayers and customers. We aim to enhance the reputation of the Borough by
highlighting ‘Good News’ stories throughout the media.
Effective Corporate Performance Management - We are committed to an effective
corporate performance management system, which flows from this strategy. The
targets set in our Corporate Report, Departmental Business Plans and Service Unit
Plans will reflect our vision, Core Values and Major Aims. We will continually
monitor our performance against targets set and report our level of performance to our
stakeholders, citizens and customers through our Annual Corporate Report.
As part of this commitment to effective performance management we will critically
analyse our Corporate Approach and measure our performance.
This will be achieved through an annual review of our strategic direction, research of
best practice and rigorous analysis of all available data throughout the public sector.
We will continually analyse our corporate financial planning function and ensure an
effective balance between statutory duty costs, service costs and development costs.
54
Appendix II
Alex Kinghorn
Director of Environmental Health Services
Nicola McCall
Deputy Director Environmental Health Services
SEHO SEHO
SEHO SEHO Borough Warden P/A Officer Supervisor
(Food) (HS/CP) (EP) (Waste)
Machine Operator Admin Assistant
Litter Warden 1 vacant
EHO post, 9 EHO’s 1 student X2 2 P/T Clerical Officers
Technical * Recycling Officer
Assistant
Weighbridge
Operator Landfill
Operative
* NB Technical Assistant carries out work on behalf of all SEHO’s
