Environmental Health
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
“Environmental Health is that area of public health activity which strives to improve, protect and maintain health and well-being through action on the physical environment and life circumstances”.
(Dr David Old, Old Report, 2006)
The Environmental Health team is responsible for discharging a vast range of statutory duties on behalf of the local authority with the aim of protecting and improving public health.
Core work areas include the following:
Food Safety
Enforcing food safety legislation to ensure that all food sold or produced is safe to eat and meets legal standards.
Our officers:
- Carry out planned food law inspections of all food businesses
- Investigate food complaints
- Provide food hygiene advice to food businesses
- Issue Section 50 Certificate for Food Hygiene – Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005
- Issue Certificate of Compliance for Food Safety for mobile street traders.
For more information please see the Food safety webpage.
Occupational Health and Safety
- Enforcing health and safety legislation in a variety of workplaces such as shops, offices, warehousing, residential care homes and the leisure industry
- Investigating workplace accidents and complaints
- Advising businesses on health and safety requirements.
Environmental Protection and Pollution Control
- Investigating statutory nuisances. Read more on the statutory nuisance webpage
- Monitoring and reporting on local air quality standards. Read more on the pollution webpage
- Dealing with contaminated land issues
- Addressing matters related to private water supplies
- Statutory consultees on certain development planning applications.
Public Health
- Investigating outbreaks of infectious diseases (e.g. food poisoning)
- Regulating activities that can impact public health, such as tattooing, piercing, certain beauty treatments and tanning salons. Find out more information on Licensing and Permits webpage.
- Licensing of animal-related premises such as animal breeders and pet shops. Find out more on the Licenses related to animal welfare, breeding, and selling animals webpage.
- Pool water testing of local public swimming pools
- Assessment of local open water bodies for toxic blue-green algal blooms. Find out more on the water quality webpage.
Housing Standards
- Inspecting private rented properties to ensure they meet the tolerable standard and are safe and healthy for occupants
- Investigating complaints about disrepair or unsafe conditions within homes. For dangerous buildings/structures please see the building standards webpage
- The licensing of Private Landlords, HMO’s and Short-term lets is administered by the council’s Private Sector Housing Team. Find our more on the housing and properties section of the website.
Submit a food safety concern
Use this form to submit a food safety concern or request advice. Please provide any supporting documents that may help our investigation into suspected food poisoning.