Liam Jones
Founder, Pilla App
Live stream will appear here
Learn what Environmental Health Officers look for during inspections, build your compliance approach into your food safety system with Pilla, and use AI to stay prepared.
Join Liam Jones, founder of Pilla and a qualified food safety consultant, for a session on Environmental Health Officers and what happens when they inspect your business.
Understand
EHOs have wide-ranging powers that can affect your business, from offering advice to closing your premises. Understanding who they are, what they look for, and what they can legally do helps you prepare properly and respond confidently when they arrive unannounced.
EHOs are employed by local authorities to check that businesses comply with food safety laws. Qualifying takes years, typically a BSc or MSc in Environmental Health, professional exams, a work placement, and a portfolio demonstrating competence. They follow the Food Law Code of Practice and assess three key areas: food safety and hygiene (storage, handling, cooking, cross-contamination), structure and cleaning (premises condition, equipment, pest control, ventilation), and confidence in management (your FSMS, monitoring records, staff training, allergen information). These same three areas determine your food hygiene rating.
EHOs have the right of entry at any reasonable time without prior notice, can take samples and photographs, seize food deemed unfit for human consumption, remove documentation for analysis, and question staff. However, they do not have the power to arrest anyone. A Hygiene Improvement Notice requires you to fix specific issues within at least 14 days, for example repairing cracked floor tiles or implementing a HACCP system. A Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice is far more serious and can close your business immediately where there is an imminent risk to public health, such as a severe pest infestation.
Apply
See how EHO inspection preparation fits into your wider food safety management system in Pilla. We walk through how to build this into your system so that your team has clear processes, accountability, and a documented trail that proves compliance.
Automate
Learn how AI can speed up this process and connect Pilla to your other tools, giving you a much more joined up system across your business.
Bring your questions , we'll be answering them live throughout.