Support for businesses - health and safety

Health and Safety at Work

If you have a business the law places a duty on you to manage and control risks in your workplace so that no harm comes to your workers or other to people who may be affected by your work activity.

The risk that your business presents depends on many factors. The sort of work you do, the number of people who work for you and your commitment to health and safety.  It is up to you to show that you have done an assessment of the risks in your workplace and done something to control the significant risks you have found.  

In Midlothian our council Health and Safety inspectors carry out a range of activities to ensure that duty holders - employers and the self employed, comply with the law. They can inspect workplaces  and investigate complaints and workplace accidents.

Inspectors can advise duty holders about what they need to do to comply with the law. When necessary they will take enforcement action to make duty holders:

• take action to deal with serious risks right away 
• change the way they work to improve safety in the workplace
• account for their actions when they breach health and safety requirements and fail in their responsibilities. This may include reporting alleged offenders to the Procurator Fiscal

Our inspection and enforcement actions are carried out in accordance with our Health and Safety Enforcement Policy.

• Health and Safety Enforcement Policy (PDF)


• Further sources of health and safety advice