As part of the Council’s policy review programme, the Health and Safety Service has published updated policies on the Health and Safety Internet site.
The following policies were reviewed:
- HS05 Food Safety Policy (Supporting Guidance available)
- HS19 Legionella Policy (Supporting Guidance available)
- HS25 Slips Trips and Falls From The Same Level Policy
Not all of the policies will apply to every service as they are subject specific. Our Food Safety Policy is aimed at Somerset Council’s food providers and examples include school meal provision, outdoor centres, library cafes and children’s disability care homes. The aim of this policy is to show our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of food safety and to give guidance and instruction to all relevant personnel to satisfy both the applicable legislation and good industry practice. The Food Safety Guidance explains how to do this in further detail and covers transporting food, maintaining equipment, cross contamination, and food allergens. We have included the Allergen guidance for food businesses from the Food Standards Agency and this lists what food providers need to know about the changes to allergen labelling for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food, also known as Natasha’s Law, see Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS food for more details.
The Legionella Policy is aimed at those in control of council premises and council-owned tenanted properties to help them to comply with their legal duties in relation to legionella. Primarily, this policy explains what the responsibilities for Premises Managers are, such as reviewing their Legionella Risk Assessment, complying with the recommendations, and making sure that training is completed by anyone who needs to understand the topic.
Finally, our Slips and Trips (Same Level Falls) Policy has been updated and might apply to certain groups of staff within Somerset Council than others. Slips and trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work and can happen almost anywhere with 95% of major slips resulting in broken bones. Staff working in front facing roles such as housing, homelessness, highways, parks, recreation, and waste services may be slightly more at risk than those working in offices or home-based.
Where the policies apply to your area, managers and employees are asked to review their responsibilities stated in the policies to ensure services are operating in a compliant manner.
All of the above are now available on the Health and Safety internet page.
