Guidance on the safe operation your business (Environmental Health)

Food Law and Health and Safety

In response to COVID-19 restrictions, our proactive inspection programme for food law and health and safety is currently suspended. This will allow us to focus our efforts on public health protection and provision of advice to those businesses which require our assistance.

Officers are continuing to investigate and respond to enquiries from both businesses and members of the public in relation to Environmental Health matters. Where possible we will do so remotely, however, where a visit is considered necessary, for example where there is potential serious risk to health or safety, we will take appropriate measures to minimise the risk of COVID-19 spread to both business operators and our officers.

If your business has a Food Hygiene Information Scheme rating of 'Improvement Required' and you require a 'Pass' rating, please contact the inspecting officer in the first instance. The officer will require confirmation that you have addressed all matters in the report of inspection and will discuss how this can be verified remotely where possible.

COVID-19

Officers are authorised in terms of The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and will investigate non-compliance with the regulations in commercial premises. To minimise the potential for non-compliance and risk to public health we are also proactively providing advice to businesses.

Businesses currently trading, or preparing to re-open, require to have controls in place to ensure compliance with the coronavirus regulations and wider Health and Safety requirements in relation to COVID-19. It is recommended all businesses are familiar with the Health Protection Scotland guidance for non-healthcare settings as well as the relevant sector specific guidance from the Scottish Government.  To assist businesses in preparing and documenting their COVID-19 controls we have produced the following guidance and templates:

•   Guidance to assist businesses in documenting their COVID-19 policy (PDF) [218KB] (opens new window)
•   COVID-19 Policy Statement Template (PDF) [86KB] (opens new window)
•   COVID-19 Example Risk Assessment - Restaurants and Cafes (PDF) [342KB] (opens new window)
•   COVID-19 Risk Assessment Template - Restaurants and Cafes (PDF) [129KB] (opens new window)
•   COVID-19 Example Risk Assessment - Retail (PDF) [310KB] (opens new window)
•   COVID-19 Risk Assessment Template - Retail (PDF) [127KB] (opens new window)
•   Covid Example Risk Assessment - Hair Salons (PDF) [371KB] (opens new window)
•   Covid Risk Assessment Template - Hair Salons (PDF) [101KB] (opens new window)

Food business should also refer to additional detailed guidance which has been produced by Food Standards Scotland. This includes a risk assessment tool and checklist for businesses as well as guidance to ensure compliance with food law for those businesses which want, or need, to adapt their processes. For those food businesses which are opening after an extended period of closure we have prepared  guidance (PDF) [237KB] (opens new window)  on some additional issues which will require to be considered.

Port Health

A Maritime Declaration of Health is currently required for:

• Any vessel that has visited another port in the past 14 days

• Any vessel that has had a crew change in the past 14 days

• Any vessel that has had a suspect/confirmed case in the past 14 days

This should be submitted to LESFoodSafety@glasgow.gov.uk prior to arrival to allow an officer to review the information.

We are currently unable to carry out ship sanitation inspections, however, one month extensions to existing ship sanitation certificates can be provided on request.

Review

As we progress through the route map set out by the Scottish Government we will continue to review our policy accordingly.

Contact us at LESFoodSafety@glasgow.gov.uk or LESHealthandSafety@glasgow.gov.uk if you require further advice.