Health and safety at work explained

Health and safety at work applies to all businesses and covers:

  • employees, full or part-time, temporary or permanent
  • self-employed people
  • young people on work experience, and apprentices
  • charity workers
  • mobile workers and homeworkers

It also protects any visitors or contractors on business premises.

Health and safety visits and inspections

Health and safety officers may visit a premises for many reasons including:

  • routine health and safety inspections
  • part of an educational campaign
  • in response to an accident or complaint

An officer will expect to look at the workplace, the activities being carried out and the management of health and safety in order to check that the employer is complying with health and safety law.

If an officer finds a breach of the health and safety law, then they will take action to try and rectify the problem.

Possible actions include:

  • informal action
  • improvement notice
  • prohibition notice
  • prosecution

After any visit the officer should provide employees with information about any actions taken.

Advice available for businesses on the Health and Safety (HSE) website

To meet your obligations under health and safety law you will need to make sure that you’ve thought about the health and safety risks, not only to your employees, but also to any contractors or any other person who is affected by your undertaking.

Cooling towers and evaporative condensers

Over recent years there have been a number of outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease which have been associated with cooling towers and evaporative condensers.

All premises where cooling towers and evaporative condensers are situated must register with us so that we can identify potential areas that could give rise to the spread of infectious diseases such as Legionnaires' disease.

Notify us of your cooling tower or evaporative condenser by completing the application form (PDF) and emailing it to us.

Public register of cooling towers and evaporative condensers

Reg. number Date of reg. Address of premises No. of cooling towers HSE/LA
1/92 17/11/1992 Aircraft Research Association
Manton Lane
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK41 7PF
1 HSE
5/92 16/12/2022 Damm Brewery (UK) Limited
Eagle Brewery
Havelock Street
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK40 4LU
2 HSE
4/93 22/03/1993 Unilever R & D
Colworth Science Park
Sharnbrook
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK44 1LQ
4 HSE
6/93 22/12/1993 Albion House
14-18 Lime Street
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK40 1LD
1 LA
3/94 7/12/1994 RWE Npower
Little Barford Power Station
Barford Road
Little Barford
Bedford
Bedfordshire
PE19 6YT
2 HSE
2/97 16/09/1997 Norse Precision Castings Ltd
276 Ampthill Road
Kempston
Bedfordshire
MK42 9QJ
1 HSE
2/98 19/08/1998 Bedford Pumps Ltd
Brooklands
Woburn Road Industrial Estate
Kempston
Bedfordshire
MK42 7UH
1 HSE
01/02 08/08/2002 Asda CDC3 (Chill) Distribution Centre
Marsh Leys Farm
Woburn Road
Kempston
Bedfordshire
MK43 9AB
6 LA
01/03 18/02/2003 Swan Print Ltd
8-10 Shuttleworth Road
Elms Farm Industrial Estate
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK41 0EP
1 HSE
01/08 09/09/2008 Dawn Cardington
Meadow Lane
Cardington
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK44 3SB
1 HSE
01/10 01/03/2010 Franco Ices Ltd
2 Adam Close
Woburn Road Industrial Estate
Kempston
Bedfordshire
MK42 7JE
4 HSE
01/11 23/06/2011 Lantmannen Unibake Ltd
Wallis Way
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK42 0PE
2 HSE
01/21 14/04/2021 AF Blakemore & Sons Ltd
Manton Lane Industrial Estate
Manton Lane
Bedford 
Bedfordshire
MK41 7BJ
1 LA