Environmental Health Officer

Ensuring your workspace is a safe and clean environment is a matter of law. There’s no way around it. Especially if it’s open to the public. Due to the serious nature of such a topic, from time to time, it means you might be on the receiving end of a governing body visit, from someone such as an Environmental Health Officer (EHO).

But even if you’re following all of the rules and are keeping your workplace up to code, it can still be intimidating. Their score or report is going to have potential ramifications, so you want it to go as smoothly as possible. So what can you do to guarantee it goes off without a hitch? Let’s talk about what they’ll be looking for and what you’ll need to do.

What will they be looking for?

What you’ll be assessed on depends on what they’re there for. For places that serve food, it’s going to be someone like an EHO. But it could be anything from a fire safety inspection to a visit from the local authority. So what they’ll be looking for will vary.

But something that links them all is they’ll be looking for due diligence. How do you track whatever you’re being assessed on? Are you keeping an accurate record of any checks? Do you have clear, digestible information? A messy record is going to be a bad reflection on you.

You need the information at your fingertips. If you’re having to spend time digging through a cabinet or hastily checking your emails for that one form, it shows the governing body that it isn’t at the forefront of your mind. They want to see that you’re dedicated to health and safety. If you aren’t sure where to find something like a fire safety manual for training purposes, what does that say?

What you need to do

It should all start with organisation. Let’s work backwards; we know any governing body will want accurate information. So how do we ensure you have that? That’s going to come down to how you track and store said information. A good solution for this is digitisation. But more than that, you also need one centralised hub.

If appropriate documents are in a central location, it becomes much easier to search for what you need. When the governing body requests something specific, it speaks volumes when you can pull it up in seconds.

This can also be used in your day to day. Let’s go back to the EHO example. They’re going to want to see proof ‌you follow all rules on food preparation and storage. A central hub can have easily accessible daily checklists, so anyone in charge can simply pull it up, tick off the boxes, and log the check in the system. 

Or perhaps you’re training a new starter on fire safety procedures. Your central hub will allow you to pull up the relevant training guide and share them with your new employee. Go one step further and find a solution that lets you set up a training event and invite relevant people. All of this is logged for you to pull up in front of the governing body and prove your approach.

From pest control to noise pollution, everything you do is going to be scrutinised. So don’t let your hard work go to waste with bad organisation. When you sort this out, you ensure you ace any future inspections.

Make sure everything you need is to hand with Inform People. With easy search and live reporting, record keeping has never been simpler. To find out more, get in touch with us on +44 (0)161 713 4104 or email.