1 For the purposes of this OC, complaints include all those arising out of face-to-face contacts, contacts by telephone or in writing, and complaints about published material and policy decisions. Complaints where adequate appeal procedures through the courts or industrial tribunal exist are not covered. Included are:
2 Complaints about professional judgements, e.g. about standards of compliance, should not normally be included except where they clearly highlight inconsistent decisions, either between individuals or by one individual, or contradict accepted standards.
3 Complaints about professional judgements where formal enforcement or a notice of intent is used to secure compliance are not included. In these circumstances, complainants should be informed of the existing avenues of appeal through industrial tribunals or the courts as appropriate and send a copy of the leaflet HSC 14 - What to expect when a health and safety inspector calls [PDF 52KB]
4 Appendix 1 [PDF 26KB] summarises the procedures and responsibilities of staff receiving or dealing with a complaint.
5 Staff receiving a complaint should give the complainant every assistance, and should do nothing to deter them from pursuing their grievance. The information set out in FODCOMP2 should be recorded for each complaint and passed to the relevant line manager as soon as possible after the complaint has been received.
6 The line manager (or the person) dealing with the complaint is responsible for:
7 If there is a complaint about the accepted procedure and staff have done nothing wrong then the complaint cannot be resolved locally by the line manager. It is not their responsibility to alter FOD's policies and procedures to meet the demands of individual complainants.
8 Line managers should refer the complaint to the relevant FOD HQ Unit or the procedure owner (details of which can be found within the relevant procedure or author of the instruction).
9 Where the complaint alleges serious allegations against a member of staff, the line manager should consider whether there is virtue in bringing independence to help resolve the complaint – or to reassure the complainant that the matter has been properly investigated. For example where a complainant has not been satisfied with our initial investigation or where an allegation of serious misconduct is made, with supporting evidence
10 Where an independent person is appointed to conduct or review an earlier investigation, they should be at least the same grade as the line manager of the person complained about.
11 All complaints about FOD staff need to be recorded at divisional level. The investigator should complete FODCOMP2 and return via their Head of Operations / Head of Unit to their Divisional Director.
12 The Divisional Director must make an annual return within 30 days of the year end to FOD NWHQ Legal and Enforcement using form FODCOMP3.
13 FOD NWHQ will provide Director of Field Operations (DFO), HoDs and Head of HQ with an annual return for the Directorate.
14 OC 167/14 version 2 - cancel and replace with this version.
