EHOs say they can'tpolice working times

Protecting employees from working more than the legal limit under working time legislation is an almost impossible task, say senior environmental health officers.

According to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), most local authorities simply do not have the resources to monitor employee working times, especially in the catering industry, which is largely staffed by casual workers.

"The regulations tend to be approached on a reactive basis. Officers can only be made aware of a problem if they are told by an employee. There are simply not enough resources to check records on an ongoing basis," said a CIEH spokesman.

He added that it would be wrong for EHOs to put this higher on their list of priorities at the expense of checks on other problems which place employees at greater immediate risk to health and safety.