Health & Safety at Work Enforcement Support

Health & Safety at Work Enforcement

Enforcement of health and safety at work has two bodies that can undertake this, dependent on your business type, the two bodies are the Local Council or the Health & Safety Executive. Sometimes these two bodies may work together or offer support to one another, however only one will process any enforcement action they deem necessary.

You can find out much more detail on these bodies and the premises that are policed by the Council and the HSE, by visiting the HSE Enforcing Authority website. 

The HSE also carries out research into health and safety issues, it also provides reports on this research which can be found free of charge at HSE website. The HSE also have a national laboratory now rebranded as ‘Solutions from HSE‘ who do offer businesses proactive information, guidance, support, and training, it may be worth a visit. You may wish to contact the HSE directly, here is the link to the HSE contact page. Councils will usually have enforcement information on their own web page; feel free to contact your local council if you need help in finding it.

The HSE Actions & Enforcement 

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is the independent body chartered by the UK Government liable for health and safety policy, the HSE are also predominantly responsible for enforcement of this area of UK Law, as mentioned above this can also be the Local Authority Council for certain premises. If you’ve had a visit from the HSE or Local Authority, then call Safety Hands Plus on 01452 539 345.

​Under the Health & Safety at Work Act (HASAWA) 1974 the HSE s accountable to the public for the decisions it takes and their implications., the HSE can attend any company premises and inspect them or any working practices. HSE inspections can be conducted as either:

• industry sector targeted inspections 
• witnessing a breach of the law
• random inspections
• previous poor performance
• concerns / complaints it has received
• incident investigations
• any notification the HSE receive of a reportable incident
• a failure to report a reportable incident 

Section 20 of HSWA affords the HSE (or other regulatory authority) the Local Council with a significant range of powers that they can exercise. They all carry a warrant card very similar to a police officer. They also have a range of enforcement methods, almost all of which can result in significant negative impacts on your business, your directors, manager, supervisors and when need directly impact you by ceasing all or part of your ongoing operations.​

Inspectors Actions 

Any HSE or local Authority Inspector can go anywhere on your site, ask to see records and evidence, talk to staff, managers, directors etc. and request a representative on behalf of the organisation to participate in a formal interview under caution, that can be used in court. Inspectors have a variety of tools and methods to deploy, the use of these tools are highly dependent on what they find during the visit, the HSE / Local Authority inspector may:

• Do nothing, if they are satisfied during their visit
• Provide advice, information, or guidance, either verbally and/or in writing
• Issue a simple caution
• Issue a Notice of Contravention (often referred to as a NOC) this will result in a Fee For Intervention (FFI) but is not published on the HSE offenders website 
• Withdraw or vary any approvals, licenses, conditions, or exemptions that have been granted, this will result in a Fee For Intervention (FFI) but is not published on the HSE offenders website 
• Issue an Improvement Notice, this will result in a Fee For Intervention (FFI) and WILL BE published on the HSE offenders website 
• Issue an Prohibition Notice, this will result in a Fee For Intervention (FFI) and WILL BE published on the HSE offenders website 
• Issue formal proceedings by virtue of a prosecution, this will result in court costs and fines and WILL BE published on the HSE offenders website

If this is happening to you or your business, time is of the essence and the Safety Hands Plus team are here to support you. Enforcing authority actions can produce a lot of stress, fear, anger, and misunderstanding, please never forget you’re not alone, give us a call 01452 539 345 

In a case of an accusation of health and safety failure against you or your business, an investigation will be conducted by the enforcing authority. There will be a possibility of facing prosecution or enforcement action. If the matter goes to Court, you may have to pay heavy fines. However, with Safety Hands Plus and supply partners specialising in Health & Safety Compliance, who have extensive experience in providing professional help to those accused of health and safety violations, we’re at your disposal.

With our experience in handling rigorous investigations and working with legal authorities, we can guide and assist you in navigating through the demanding process. Our goal is to ensure that you and your business are well-prepared and protected during interviews. Additionally, we can provide expert advice on ensuring your compliance to avoid any future legal action. Our professional team is dedicated to providing comprehensive support to you and your business throughout the process. Benefit from our experience of defending businesses, directors, managers, and more faced with prosecution or appealing a decision made by a regulatory body. We offer a frontline defence for you or your business, no matter how complex the case.

At Safety Hands Plus, we offer a comprehensive range of services to our clients, combining our in-house expertise with supporting sector-specific solutions. Our team of Health and Safety Professionals and retained Solicitors are experienced in representing and advising clients from a wide variety of industry sectors. Our enforcement support services can help you with:

• Appeals against Enforcement Notices (jointly with retained solicitors) 
• Coroner Inquests (jointly with retained solicitors)
• Corporate Manslaughter (with retained solicitor’s)
• Directors’ duties & liabilities
• Enforcement Notices & NOC’s
• Gross Negligence Manslaughter (with retained solicitor’s)
• HSE, EA, & Local Authority investigations
• HSE, EA, & Local Authorities requests for information
• Improvement Notices
• Legal duties, legal liabilities, defenses & penalties
• Prohibition Notice
• Regulation breaches
• Regulatory compliance​
• Supply chain due to diligence and sub-contractor supervision

Your insurance underwriter may request you use one of the approved teams on their books, you are free to pursue this however you are not obligated to do so. It is important you have a team in place that is focused on your defence and migrating the costs, actions, effects, and any corrective actions for you and your business any enforcement action may have. A team who work with you to present you in the best light ensure you’re left with robust policies, systems and assessments to ensure similar events cannot be repeated.

Insurance appointed teams can be more aligned with the insurance company’s drivers on cost mitigation to the insurance company than doing what is best for you. Please give Safety Hands Plus a call for a fully confidential and no obligation chat on 01452 539 345.