Cherwell District Council &

Sainsburys Primary Authority

Update
Peter Mather
Retail & Logistics Food Safety Manager
Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd
Kate Harris
Primary Authority Officer
Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner

Content

Introduction to Sainsburys
Who manages safety at Sainsburys
Experience of regulation
Primary Authority?
PA with Cherwell DC & aims of PA
PA in practice
Inspection plans & rationale document
The future

Sainsburys in Context
The business
150,000 colleagues
1000+ locations
23 Million customer visits each week
Vehicle fleet of over 1000 tractors and 2100 trailers
Around 21,000 deliveries per week travelling around 100
million miles per year

Accidents / Incidents & Enforcement Contacts

Encourage the reporting of near misses as well as accidents and
incidents
3225 Enforcement contacts in the past 12 months

How Sainsburys Manage

Safety

Central safety team in Holborn

Report into company secretary
Cover H&S, fire, EP and food safety
Safety professionals in Retail and Logistics
End to end process
Policy

Processes and
Procedures

Training

Coaching

Support into Stores & Depots

Governance

Assurance

Regulatory Experience and the

development of our PA
Inconsistency & repeat request for the same information
Poor understanding within regulatory community around
Sainsburys structures and processes
Home/Lead Authority scheme nationally lacked strength
advice not binding, LA not required to be contacted
Primary Authority legislative backing and strong
support from Government & business
Desire to build strong long term partnership
Working Towards Excellence document issued to a
range of Councils to gauge interest
Proposals reviewed and agreement with Cherwell DC on
safety areas reached

Primary Authority
Consistency and reliability in the way
regulations are enforced are the most
visible way we can reduce the burden that
bureaucracy places on our businesses

Mark Prisk MP
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise

What is Primary Authority

A scheme defining a partnership between
a single local authority and a business
Statutory scheme under the Regulatory
Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008
Partnerships are formed through
nomination by BRDO
BRDOs secure IT system hosts the
scheme
Tools inc. inspection plans and Primary
Authority Advice

Numbers as of March 2012 ..

480 businesses
81 local authorities
>48,600 premises covered
>1,200,000 employees covered by health
and safety partnerships

Cost recovery
Charges must be transparent and
reasonable and justified by the expected
benefits
Options are:
Full cost recovery
Free services/some free services
Partial cost recovery, e.g. 10 hours free per
business

Primary Authority in Practice

Sainsburys
Health and Safety PAP signed in October
2010
followed in November 2011 by:
Food hygiene
Pollution control
Environmental protection
Trading Standards (Oxfordshire CC),
Petroleum (LFEPA) and Fireworks (Tyne
& Wear)

Primary Authority in Practice ..

PA Officer recruited & in post from Oct
2011
Familiarisation with operations
Familiarisation with how safety is
managed
Referrals from LAs (reviewing inspection
reports, food complaints, accident
investigations)
Enquiries from LAs
Getting info ready for BRDO website
and Inspection Plans

Inspection Plans
Sent to BRDO on 8 February 2012
Reviewed by national regulators (FSA &
HSE)
Published on BRDO website on 26 March
2012
Approach provide information to help
LAs target resources and make
inspections focused and ..
Reduce inconsistencies, duplication and
costs to Sainsburys

Content of Inspection Plans

Key recommendations
PA reviewing safety systems centrally
EAs to focus on local implementation in key
areas (supported by rationale document)
Guidance on risk rating
Contact PA prior to sampling
Self assessment questionnaires

Rationale document
In determining topic areas for H&S we:
Used the HSEs Retail Industry: Multi Site
Businesses Draft Sector Strategy (priorities
identified for sector - slips on wet surfaces &
injuries caused by pulling/pushing)
Looked at business specific accident data
(slips & trips, and manual handling)
Looked at internal audit information
Examined referrals from LAs and enforcement
activity

Key areas for EAs

Food Hygiene

Temperature control
Pest control records and corrective actions
Segregation
Foreign object control in open food areas
Cleanliness routines

Health & Safety

Slips and trips

Manual handling
Workplace transport
Occupational asthma

Resources on BRDO website

Dealing with food complaints
FS and H&S management and records in stores
Alternative enforcement strategies inc. self
assessment questionnaires
Coming soon Terminology and acronyms
How food hygiene and safety training is
delivered
How Sainsburys controls the risk of cross
contamination
Information on BPM for London LAs 2012
Games

The future
Review of EA feedback from inspections
Review of systems and programme to issue PA
advice to business
Promotion of PA and use of inspection plans to
Enforcing Authorities
Opportunities for others?
BRDO strengthening Primary Authority (more
powerful Inspection Plans to deliver earned
recognition; allowing more organisations to
participate; new policy areas)

Contact
Kate Harris (PA Officer, Cherwell DC), Tel:
07557082563
Email: kate.harris@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Neil Lennox (Head of Safety, Sainsburys), Tel: 020 7695
6958
Email: neil.lennox@sainsburys.co.uk
Rob Belton (Policy & Regulatory Manager, Sainsburys)
Tel: 020 7695 6958
Email: robert.belton@sainsburys.co.uk
Group Safety Team email:
health.safety@sainsburys.co.uk