HSE's Enforcement Policy Statement says: "We use discretion when deciding whether to investigate incidents. It is recognised that it is neither possible nor necessary for the purposes of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to investigate all issues of non-compliance with the law."
What it weighs includes "the scale of potential or actual harm" and "the seriousness of any potential breach of the law". It adds: "We devote most resources to investigating incidents involving the more serious circumstances, including the investigation of all work related-deaths."
Investigations often start from a RIDDOR report, a complaint, or a planned inspection.
HSE also commits to proportionality: its action should be "proportionate to the health and safety risks and to the seriousness of any breach of law".
A legal notice requiring you to put a breach right by a set date. Under section 21 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, an inspector who believes you are breaking the law, or have done so in a way likely to continue or be repeated, can serve a notice "requiring that person to remedy the contravention".
HSE's leaflet for businesses says: "We will give you at least 21 days to make any changes. You commit a criminal offence if you don't make the changes in the time we give you."
A notice that stops an activity. Section 22 allows one where an activity involves "a risk of serious personal injury". HSE's leaflet: "You may get a prohibition notice if there is a risk of serious personal injury now or in the future."
Two differences from an improvement notice:
Yes, to an employment tribunal. The appeal must be received "before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date on which the notice which is the subject of the appeal is sent to the appellant", unless the tribunal allows longer because that was not reasonably practicable.
What happens while it is under appeal differs:
| Notice | While the appeal is heard |
|---|---|
| Improvement notice | Suspended until the appeal is decided or withdrawn |
| Prohibition notice | Stays in force, unless the tribunal directs otherwise on your application |
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, section 24(3); Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013, regulation 14A.
If HSE finds a material breach, you pay for its time. HSE: "If you don't break the law, you won't pay anything."
A material breach, in HSE's words, is "something which an inspector considers serious enough that they need to formally write to the business requiring action to be taken". If the inspector sends you a notification of contravention after the visit, a fee follows.
The rate is "£188 an hour for the time it takes HSE to identify what is wrong and to help you put things right". HSE raised it from £183 on 1 April 2026.
Yes, for notices and convictions. HSE's register pages say:
Customers, insurers and journalists can search both. Our monthly prosecutions digest draws on the cases HSE publishes.
Courts in England and Wales follow the Sentencing Council's guideline for health and safety offences by organisations, in force since 1 February 2016. In outline:
| Size | Turnover or equivalent |
|---|---|
| Micro | not more than £2 million |
| Small | between £2 million and £10 million |
| Medium | between £10 million and £50 million |
| Large | £50 million and over |
The guideline's offence range runs from "£50 fine – £10 million fine", and it allows more for very large organisations. Its principle: "it should not be cheaper to offend than to take the appropriate precautions."
Individuals, such as directors and managers, can also be prosecuted. For the most serious offences tried in the Crown Court, the maximum is "Imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both."
The guideline punishes the risk, not only the outcome. That is why what you knew, and what you did about it, matters.
A warehouse reports a specified injury: a picker's foot run over by a forklift at an aisle end. An inspector visits, finds no barrier where pickers step out into the main route, and learns two near misses were reported at the same spot in the past year.
The site fitted barriers within three weeks and recorded the change, with photos and dates.
You must put the breach right by the date given, which HSE says will be at least 21 days. You can appeal to an employment tribunal within 21 days of the notice being sent, which suspends the notice until the appeal is decided. Not complying is a criminal offence. HSE publishes the notice on its register five weeks after it is served.
An improvement notice requires a breach to be fixed by a date. A prohibition notice stops an activity that involves a risk of serious personal injury, can take effect immediately, and does not need a breach of the law. An appeal suspends an improvement notice but not a prohibition notice, unless the tribunal directs.
£188 an hour from 1 April 2026, for the time HSE spends identifying what is wrong and helping put it right. It applies only where HSE finds a material breach and writes to you about it.
Notices are published five weeks after they are served and stay on the register for five years. Convictions are published nine weeks after conviction and stay for ten years.
Courts follow the Sentencing Council guideline: culpability, harm (including the risk of harm), then the organisation's turnover, with adjustments for aggravating and mitigating factors and a reduction for a guilty plea. The range runs from £50 to £10 million, with more possible for very large organisations.
Individuals can be prosecuted, and for the most serious offences tried in the Crown Court the maximum is two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Inspectors ask what you knew before it happened. What would your site's records show? Safety Mapping: a free two-week trial on one camera.
By Hao Zheng, CEO at RoboK · Last checked November 2026