HSE Improvement and Prohibition Notices: What to Do If You've Received One

If you have just received an HSE Improvement Notice or Prohibition Notice and you are looking for guidance, the most important thing first: do not panic, do not ignore it, and act within the deadlines on the notice itself. The decisions you make in the next few days, particularly the appeal window of 21 days, set the trajectory for what happens next.

This guide explains exactly what each type of notice means, what the deadlines are, what your options are, what the consequences of inaction look like, and when to bring in external help. It is written for business owners, directors, managers, and anyone who has received a notice from the Health and Safety Executive or a local authority Environmental Health Officer and needs to understand what to do.

If you have not yet received a notice but think you are likely to, the same advice applies. The 21-day clock starts the moment the notice is served, not when you decide to act on it.

The two types of notice and the critical difference

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and local authority Environmental Health Officers acting for the HSE, have powers under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to issue two distinct types of enforcement notice. Each has different triggers, different timelines, and different consequences.

Improvement Notice (Section 21)

An Improvement Notice is issued when an inspector believes that you are contravening relevant statutory provisions, or have contravened them in circumstances likely to be repeated. The notice will:

• Identify the contravention
• Specify the law being contravened
• State the inspector's reasons
• Require remedy within a specified period (minimum 21 days)

The activity can continue while the contravention is remedied. The notice is, in effect, the inspector saying "this is not compliant, fix it by this date, or face prosecution".

Prohibition Notice (Section 22)

A Prohibition Notice is issued when an inspector believes that activities being carried out, or about to be carried out, involve or will involve a risk of serious personal injury. The notice will:

• Identify the activity to be prohibited
• State the inspector's belief and reasons
• Take effect either immediately or on a deferred date specified in the notice

The activity must stop. A Prohibition Notice is significantly more serious than an Improvement Notice because the inspector has decided that allowing the activity to continue presents a serious risk to people. Immediate Prohibition Notices take effect the moment they are served. Deferred Prohibition Notices take effect on the date stated.

The headline difference

An Improvement Notice says "carry on, but fix it by X date". A Prohibition Notice says "stop, and do not restart until the issue is resolved". The decisions and timelines flow from that distinction.

What to do in the first 24 hours

Whichever type of notice you have received, the priority sequence is the same.

Read the notice carefully. Identify the issuing inspector, the date of service, the contravention or activity referenced, the deadline for remedy or the prohibition date, and the appeal information. Most notices include the inspector's contact details on the bottom of the form.

Note the appeal deadline. You have 21 days from the date the notice is served on you to appeal to the Employment Tribunal. This is a strict deadline and is rarely extended.

Do not contact the inspector to argue in the heat of the moment. Inspectors keep notes. Anything you say can be recorded and used in subsequent prosecution if your response is non-compliant. Constructive, written communication is fine and often helpful. Defensive, dismissive, or angry verbal pushback is not.

Do not destroy or alter any evidence. If the notice references specific equipment, records, or arrangements, leave them exactly as they are pending review. Altering or removing the subject of a notice can lead to additional offences.

Get advice from someone competent. A Chartered health and safety consultant, a specialist health and safety lawyer, or a senior in-house compliance professional. The first 24 to 72 hours is when the strategic decisions are made: comply, appeal, or both. Those decisions are easier to make with experienced input.

For a Prohibition Notice specifically: stop the activity now. Continuing the prohibited activity is itself a criminal offence under Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The deadlines that matter

Three deadlines drive the response to any HSE notice. Each one has different consequences if missed.

The compliance deadline. Stated on the notice itself. For an Improvement Notice, this is the date by which the contravention must be remedied (minimum 21 days from service). For a Prohibition Notice, this is the date from which the activity is prohibited (immediate or deferred). Missing the compliance deadline is the most common route to prosecution.

The appeal deadline. 21 days from the date the notice is served. Appeals are made to the Employment Tribunal (technically the Health and Safety Tribunal under the First-tier Tribunal). Missing the appeal deadline means you lose the right to challenge the notice.

Any deadline for further information. Some notices ask for written confirmation of compliance, evidence of remedial action, or further information by a specific date. Missing these can be treated as evidence of non-cooperation.

The appeal deadline and the compliance deadline run in parallel. An appeal against an Improvement Notice suspends the notice; you do not need to remedy the contravention until the appeal is decided. An appeal against a Prohibition Notice does not suspend the notice; you must stop the activity even while the appeal is pending, unless the tribunal directs otherwise.

What happens if you ignore an HSE notice

The legal position is unambiguous. Failing to comply with a notice is a criminal offence under Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Conviction carries:

• On summary conviction (magistrates' court): up to 12 months imprisonment and an unlimited fine
• On indictment (Crown Court): up to 2 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine

Sentencing follows the Sentencing Council guidelines for health and safety offences, which apply a structured assessment of culpability and harm. Fines for corporate offenders are scaled to turnover. For a large business with high culpability and high harm, fines can run into millions.

Ignoring a notice is not just a question of the original contravention. The act of non-compliance itself becomes the offence. Even if the underlying contravention was relatively minor, prosecution for non-compliance with a notice tends to be more serious in court than prosecution for the original issue would have been.

For directors and senior managers, Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 creates personal liability where an offence is committed with their consent, connivance, or neglect. Personal prosecutions of directors are uncommon but not rare, and they carry the same imprisonment exposure as corporate prosecutions.

The hidden consequences most businesses miss

Beyond the immediate prosecution risk, an HSE notice has knock-on consequences that often surprise duty holders.

The public register. The HSE publishes a public Notices register of all Improvement and Prohibition Notices issued. Anyone can search it by business name. The notice stays on the register and is visible to clients, insurers, prospective customers, journalists, and competitors. The reputational impact is significant, particularly for businesses tendering for work or operating in sectors where compliance evidence is part of the buyer due diligence.

Insurance. Employers' liability and public liability insurers ask about HSE notices and prosecutions on renewal and on new business applications. Failing to disclose a notice can void cover. Disclosure typically results in premium increases or, in serious cases, refusal of cover.

SSIP and tender accreditations. CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SMAS, Acclaim, and the other SSIP schemes ask about enforcement action as part of accreditation. An undisclosed notice that comes to light later can lead to loss of accreditation, which in construction and many other sectors means loss of the ability to bid for work.

Client contracts. Many commercial contracts include warranties about compliance with health and safety law. A notice can trigger contractual disclosure obligations, contract review, and in some cases termination rights for the client.

The next inspection. A notice raises the priority of your business in the HSE's risk-based inspection allocation. Subsequent inspections tend to be more thorough and more frequent.

These consequences are why treating a notice as a minor compliance issue is the wrong response. The notice itself is one event. Its consequences run for years.

Your right to appeal

Both Improvement and Prohibition Notices can be appealed to the Employment Tribunal within 21 days of service.

Appeals can challenge:

• The fact of the contravention. You disagree that the law was contravened.
• The remedy required. You agree there was an issue, but believe the remedy specified is disproportionate, technically wrong, or inappropriate.
• The deadline. You agree with the substance of the notice, but believe the time allowed for compliance is unreasonable.
• The classification of the notice. For example, that a Prohibition Notice should have been an Improvement Notice.
• Who is named on the notice. The wrong person or wrong entity has been served.

The tribunal can confirm the notice, modify it, or cancel it. For Improvement Notices, the notice is suspended pending the appeal outcome. For Prohibition Notices, the notice remains in force unless the tribunal directs otherwise on application.

Appeals are not lightly undertaken. They are formal proceedings with costs implications and a public record. They can also extend the timeline before the underlying issue is resolved. That said, where the notice is wrong on substance, deadline, or classification, an appeal is the proper route. Most appeals are settled without a hearing, often through agreed modifications negotiated with the HSE.

Where the appeal is on technical rather than factual grounds, specialist health and safety legal advice is usually advisable in addition to consultancy input. Arinite's Chartered consultants work alongside specialist legal teams on appeal matters but the legal lead on tribunal proceedings sits with regulated lawyers, not consultants.

How to comply effectively

If you decide not to appeal, or while the appeal is in progress, the priority is verifiable compliance with the notice.

The pattern that works:

Understand exactly what the notice requires. Sometimes the wording is clear. Sometimes it references specific regulations whose practical application is open to interpretation. Get the wording professionally interpreted before you start work; remedying the wrong thing is expensive.

Plan the remedial action. Assign a senior person to own the response, agree the work, set the internal deadlines, and identify the resources needed. The remedial work itself may include physical changes, procedural changes, training, documentation, and management system changes.

Document everything. Photograph before-and-after states. Keep dated records of meetings, decisions, training delivered, and procedures issued. The HSE will often ask for evidence of compliance and may revisit the premises to verify.

Notify the HSE of completion. Write to the inspector confirming compliance, attach evidence, and request acknowledgement. Do not assume the case is closed until you have written confirmation.

Use the notice as a wider review trigger. If one contravention was visible enough to attract a notice, others may exist that have not been spotted yet. A health and safety audit following an enforcement notice is the most efficient way to identify and address related issues before the next inspection.

When to bring in a Chartered consultant

Many businesses respond to HSE notices in-house. For minor procedural notices in well-resourced compliance functions, that is often the right call. Arinite's Chartered consultants typically add value in five specific situations:

The notice is technically complex and the in-house team is not confident on the precise regulatory interpretation. Misreading what the notice requires leads to remedial work that does not satisfy the inspector.

The notice has been issued to a multi-site business and similar issues may exist elsewhere. An in-house response that fixes only the inspected site leaves the rest of the portfolio exposed at the next inspection.

The notice relates to an area of specialist regulation such as asbestos, COSHH, fire safety, or major hazards, where dedicated expertise is required.

An appeal is being considered and the technical case needs to be evidenced rigorously. The tribunal will not accept casual evidence.

The directors are personally exposed under Section 37 of the Act, and the response needs to evidence that decision-making at director level has been competent.

Arinite works with 1,500+ businesses across 50+ countries, including many businesses that came to us in response to an enforcement notice and stayed for ongoing retained service. 100,000+ Employees Protected. ISO 45001:2018 certified. 15+ years of practice in front of HSE inspectors and Environmental Health Officers.

If you have received a notice and want immediate advice, call +44 (0)20 7947 9581 and ask for a senior consultant. We can usually arrange a structured call within 24 hours.

For non-urgent enquiries, the Free Gap Analysis Call is a 30-minute structured review of where you stand, the gaps that matter most, and what to do about them. Particularly useful if you have not yet received a notice but suspect you may.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an HSE Improvement Notice and a Prohibition Notice? An Improvement Notice requires you to remedy a contravention of health and safety law within a specified time. The activity can continue while the remedy is implemented. A Prohibition Notice requires you to stop an activity that the inspector believes involves a risk of serious personal injury. The activity cannot continue until the issue is resolved. Prohibition Notices are significantly more serious.

How long do I have to comply with an HSE notice? The compliance deadline is stated on the notice. For Improvement Notices, the minimum period is 21 days from service. For Prohibition Notices, the prohibition takes effect either immediately or on a deferred date stated on the notice. The 21-day appeal window runs in parallel with the compliance deadline.

Can I appeal an HSE notice? Yes. Appeals are made to the Employment Tribunal within 21 days of service. An appeal against an Improvement Notice suspends the notice pending the outcome. An appeal against a Prohibition Notice does not suspend the notice unless the tribunal specifically directs otherwise.

What happens if I ignore an HSE notice? Non-compliance with a notice is a criminal offence under Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Conviction carries unlimited fines and, in serious cases, imprisonment of up to 2 years for individuals. Sentencing follows the Sentencing Council guidelines for health and safety offences, with corporate fines scaled to turnover.

Are HSE notices public? Yes. The HSE maintains a public Notices register listing all Improvement and Prohibition Notices issued. The register is searchable by business name and is used by insurers, prospective clients, SSIP accreditation schemes, and journalists. Notices remain on the register.

Will an HSE notice affect my insurance? Almost certainly. Employers' liability and public liability insurers ask about notices and prosecutions at renewal. Disclosure typically results in premium increases. Failure to disclose can void cover. Notices should be reported to insurers as soon as practical after receipt.

Will an HSE notice affect my CHAS or SafeContractor accreditation? SSIP schemes ask about enforcement action as part of the accreditation process. An undisclosed notice that comes to light later can lead to loss of accreditation, with consequential loss of the ability to bid for work that requires SSIP membership. Disclosure and a documented remedial response is normally the right approach.

Can a director be personally prosecuted under an HSE notice? Yes. Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 creates personal liability where an offence is committed with the consent, connivance, or neglect of a director, manager, secretary, or similar officer. Personal prosecutions are uncommon but not rare, and carry the same imprisonment exposure as corporate prosecutions.

What is a Crown Notice? A Crown Notice is the equivalent of an Improvement or Prohibition Notice issued to a Crown body (such as a government department) which is immune from prosecution. The notice carries the same expectation of compliance but is enforced through different mechanisms, including censure by Parliament.

How long does an HSE notice stay on the public register? Notices are listed on the public register indefinitely. Compliance does not remove a notice from the register, although the register will record whether the notice has been complied with, withdrawn on appeal, or varied.