Health and Safety Executive

4.Mr A is complaining to us about the actions of the HSE following an inspection at his business, (the Company), in May 2024. He tells us that following the inspection the HSE issued enforcement notices and a fee to the Company. The HSE said these notices were issued due to ‘contravention of health and safety law’ identified during the May 2024 visit. He tells us he is unhappy with the HSE’s decision to issue notices.

5.Mr A tells us he is unhappy with the way the HSE has treated the Company and says the HSE’s actions have had a ‘significant and detrimental impact on the livelihoods of our employees’. He tells us he has suffered from ‘stress’ and ‘uncertainty’ in respect of this matter.

6.Mr A says he would like ‘all contravention notices, including the associated charges, removed from our record and invoices’.

7.Mr A complained to us about the HSE following a safety inspection that took place at the Company in May 2024. Mr A said that the Company is a long-running business and has been in operation for several years. He says the machinery used by the Company is highly specialist and the HSE inspectors did not seem familiar with the machinery during the inspection.

8.Mr A said that following the inspection, the Company received a letter from the HSE dated July 2024. This letter explained that during the site visit the HSE inspectors had ‘identified contraventions of health and safety law’. As a result of these ‘contraventions’ the HSE had decided to issue enforcement notices and a fee.

9.Mr A was unhappy with this and within a few days of the letter being issued he submitted a complaint email. The HSE acknowledged this email the following day. The HSE issued its Tier 1 response to Mr A in mid-August. It explained the HSE’s rationale for issuing the enforcement notices. The letter explained what Mr A needed to do to appeal these notices as he had told the HSE that this was his intention.

10.Just under a month later, Mr A emailed the HSE and indicated he was unhappy with its response to him. The HSE responded within a month, in early October 2024, and said that this constituted its Tier 2 response. The letter explained that the individual responding was from the HSE’s Investigation Division Unit (IDU) and had no prior involvement with the case. The response was detailed and said that the HSE had not received any information to show that the Company was appealing the notices. The letter said the HSE did not uphold Mr A’s complaint and had acted in line with the relevant policies.

11.Mr A was unhappy with this and in late October 2024 he submitted another email outlining his dissatisfaction with the response he received. The HSE responded approximately one month later, in late November 2024. The letter went on to say that the complaint had been escalated to Tier 3 of its process and this was the HSE’s final response. The letter reiterated the previous responses that the HSE acted in line with its relevant policies and that Mr A had been given information about the appeal process and had not taken further action. The letter said his complaint was not upheld, and no further action would be taken.

12.Mr A was unhappy with this response and contacted his MP and asked for the complaint to be referred to our Office. Mr A submitted his complaint to us in February 2024. During our correspondence with Mr A, he has made it clear that his primary aim in bringing his complaint to our Office, is for the current enforcement notices to be removed.

Our view

14.Mr A complained to us about the actions of the HSE and its decision to issue notices to the Company following a site inspection in May 2024. In the interests of remaining concise and customer-focused we will not be producing a detailed timeline of these events as this would be repetitive and both parties involved are familiar with the background of this complaint. Instead, we will be focusing on the main concerns raised with us and Mr A’s desired outcomes, namely the removal of the enforcement notices and associated fees.

15.Mr A told us in his complaint form and accompanying documents, as well as his correspondence with us, that his primary concern is the removal of the enforcement notices. He has made it clear to us that his primary objective in approaching our Office is the removal of the HSE’s notices.

16.The notices were issued in writing in late July 2024 after the May 2024 inspection. Mr A kindly provided us with a copy of the letter which explained the rationale for issuing these notices. These notices included actions for Mr A and the Company to undertake to show it had complied with the HSE’s concerns. It also included a deadline for completion (late September 2024) and said Mr A may be able to extend the deadline if he wished and should contact the HSE as soon as possible.

17.We can see from the background that Mr A complained to the HSE shortly after the notice was issued, and the HSE provided its response in mid-August. The HSE’s Tier 1 response was issued in mid-August, over a month before the late September deadline in the July 2024 letter. Mr A indicated in his complaint that he planned to appeal the enforcement notices and the HSE provided him with information about this.

18.The HSE said in its response that Mr A had a period of 21 days to appeal the notices from the date they were issued. It also provided him with a link to the relevant website where he could access the forms needed to submit his appeal.

19.We asked Mr A if he had submitted an appeal. He indicated he had not and said having been through the HSE’s complaints process he felt he had been ‘dismissed’ by the HSE as it seemed the HSE were ‘really not interested in looking into the reasons we were appealing’.

20.As part of our review of Mr A’s complaint we asked the HSE about the appeals process. The HSE explained that the only way for enforcement notices to be appealed is via a Tribunal. We can see that the Tier 1 complaint response outlined this process, as we have mentioned above.

21.The HSE provided us with a copy of its ‘Enforcement Policy Statement’ (the Enforcement Policy) which is one of the policies the HSE refers to when considering enforcement action. The Enforcement Policy states that an individual has a ‘right of an appeal to an Employment Tribunal in cases where statutory notices have been issued’.

22.As was the case here the HSE has issued notices to the Company, which Mr A was unhappy about. We asked the HSE about the appeals process, it explained there is only one appeal route, via the Employment Tribunal. This route was outlined to Mr A in the Tier 1 response, and we can see that the July 2024 rsponse, also included information on how to dispute the fees issued.

23.We have considered Mr A’s complaint about the enforcement notices issued to him and the Company in July 2024. After reviewing the relevant information, we can see that the only route to appeal these notices is via an Employment Tribunal, as outlined in the Tier 1 August response. This means there was a legal route open to Mr A when the enforcement notices were issued, which would have enabled him to appeal and challenge the decisions the HSE made.

24.We have reviewed Mr A’s complaint to us and his correspondence has made clear he wants the notices removed. As explained above, the method of appealing the enforcement notices is via a Tribunal, which is a legal process. We cannot intervene in this process, nor are we able to overturn the notices the HSE has issued. As there was a legal route open to him, which could have produced the outcomes he is seeking, we are not able to take this matter any further.

25.We understand that this will be very disappointing for Mr A and the Company, but unfortunately the Tribunal route is a legal route, which means we do not have any power or influence to override this process. The 21-day deadline has passed, and we are unsure if there are any other options available to him. However, if Mr A wants to explore this further, he may wish to seek independent legal advice to see if there are any other ways to challenge the HSE’s decision.

26.In addition to his complaint about the removal of the enforcement notices, Mr A has told us he is unhappy with the way the Company was treated by the HSE. He has indicated that he thinks the Company was subject to ‘bias’ by the HSE and has questioned the credentials of the site inspectors.

27.We have reviewed the HSE’s correspondence with Mr A after he submitted his complaint. We can see that the HSE has provided him with thorough and comprehensive responses addressing his concerns. More significantly, the HSE has not only referred to the guidance and legislation it has followed when undertaking its inspections, but it has also provided him with the extracts that are applicable so he can verify this for himself.

28.We have reviewed the relevant guidance and legislation that the HSE has referred to. As we were not present during the visit itself, we cannot take a definitive view on what happened. However, we can see that the HSE has responded to Mr A’s concerns in detail and explained the relevant policies that guide its work.

29.The UK Government Complaint Standards state that organisations should ‘give a clear and balanced account, based on established facts. Each account compares what happened with what should have happened. It gives clear references to any relevant legislation, standards, policies, procedures or guidance, based on objective criteria’.

30.We think the responses provided to Mr A by the HSE are reasonable and reflective of this principle. We are satisfied that the HSE does not need to take any further action in the regard.

31.After reviewing the complaint from Mr A, we will not be taking any further action as we can see there was a legal route open to him, which would enable him to challenge, and possibly remove the notices. Therefore, we will not be taking any further action.

32.We wish Mr A all the best for the future.

1. We have carefully considered Mr A’s complaint about the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). We can see from his correspondence with the HSE and with us that he is very unhappy with the HSE’s responses and believes he has not received a fair outcome to his concerns. We are sorry to hear these events have caused such frustration.

2. Having considered the evidence available to us, and the guidance that set out how the HSE should carry out its work, we have decided to take no further action. This is because we can see there was a legal route open to Mr A.

3. The complaints we receive give us valuable insight into the organisations we investigate, so we thank Mr A for sharing his experience with us. It is important to acknowledge that while we have decided not to take any further action, this does not detract from Mr A’s experience, or the distress he feels.  Our statement below sets out the reasons for our decision.