The health and safety team work closely with the licensed trade in Chesterfield to support them in complying with their health and safety responsibilities. This information will assist premise licence holders, designated premise supervisors, managers and staff in the licensed trade.

Part of our work has been to liaise with other responsible authorities including the police, fire service and trading standards and our licensing section to develop a licensing compliance pack.

Please feel free to use and copy this guide to assist you in complying with your responsibilities under the four licensing objectives. Please see licensed premises compliance pack.

Each enforcement agency has compiled details of the information they expect you to make available to them when they inspect your premise, together with other guidance (including contact details) which you may find useful.

The guide also includes checklists to remind you to notify the licensing section of changes in designated premise supervisor as well as opening and closing checklists, staff training logs, refusal/challenge logs, etc.

We also work closely with Pubwatch to support you in providing health and safety updates, training and workshops through this forum. Please let us know if you need any help.

Members of all the responsible authorities sit on the Violence and Alcohol Harm Group (VAL).

The VAL group meets once a month to discuss not only the licensed premises in Chesterfield but also other issues such as crime levels, areas of the town where alcohol is being consumed outside premises, and littering related to the night time economy, etc.

Individual premises may be added to the action plan of the VAL group and there are many myths surrounding this process that we would like to dispel.

You will not be added to the list for reporting minor accidents, contacting us for advice, reporting incidents over the Pubwatch radios, etc.

You may be added for failing a test purchase exercise or failing to comply with your legal duties enforced by one or more of the responsible authorities.

We also work closely to support the door staff in Chesterfield as they are the front line ambassadors for your business and often assist the enforcement agencies to improve the nighttime economy in Chesterfield.

By the nature of the job they do they may encounter work-related violence and this is an area of work the health and safety team are still working hard to prevent. Members of door staff are valued contributors to the running of a safe night time economy and violence towards them is not acceptable.

We assist the door staff by providing guidance on assessing the risks in the venues they operate from and we are happy to provide advice to premise operators to assess any additional risks created by the premise layout and design.

In the current economic climate it may seem an easy option to reduce costs by reducing the number of door staff at the venue. Guidance should always be taken from the companies operating the door teams, the police and your own assessment of the risks to the door staff (if they are working alone) to ensure the safe operation of your venue. A good example is to consider how many door staff would be needed if there was an emergency closure, fire or other major problem during a busy trading period. Please contact us if you need more information.

Chesterfield needs a varied and vibrant night time economy which will attract all ages and types of visitors into the town. The challenge for venue operators is to provide a range of promotions and entertainments which will encourage the night time economy to grow whilst maintaining public safety.

One of our priorities is to look at Event Safety. To assist you in achieving this a selection of guides and checklists can be found at running an event safely.

An important part of running a successful event is prior to hosting the event considering the health and safety of not only the public but your own staff as well.

We are here to give you any support you need regarding the running of a safe event and would encourage you to contact us to discuss your proposals so we can give you any information you need to make your event a success.

If you would like further information or an advisory visit please contact the Health and Safety Team on 01246 345345 or email us at food@chesterfield.gov.uk.