A typical day in the life of a Trading Standards Officer
Give feedback on this pageA typical day in the life of a Trading Standards Officer
Title: Senior Trading Standards Officer and Inspector of Weights and Measures
08:20 - Arrived at office. Checked email - notification received advising of ‘national alert’ concerning availability of unsafe electric kettles at retail level in the UK market.
08:50 - Gathered testing equipment and necessary forms for carrying out inspections of trade premises.
09:05 - Depart from office.
09:15 - Home visit to complainant in Rhuddlan, arranged yesterday, concerning work which had been paid for but not carried out by an itinerant trader.
10:10 - Arrived at garage in Denbigh to test petrol pumps for accuracy of measure.
11:35 - Visit to premise in Ruthin where complaint alleging sale of age restricted product witnessed by local resident. Advice given to proprietor of the allegation and checks made on what systems they had in place to guard against such occurances. Advised also that test purchase exercises are carried out by the department using underage volunteers to monitor compliance.
11:55 - Checked weighing equipment, durability dates, prices and refusal register used when underage sales declined at national superstore.
13:10 - Lunch break.
13:40 - Checked beer meters, spirit optics and for presence and visible display of statutory notices in two public houses.
14:45 - ‘Formal’ test purchase made of pork sausages for submission to Public Analyst to check on meat content and ingredients.
15:30 - ‘Informal’ purchase of peanuts to test for afflatoxins and a savoy cabbage for pesticidal residues.
16:35 - Returned to the office. Dealt with list on my desk of telephone enquiries received during my absence which required a response.
17:05 - Finish work for the day.