Make a complaint to the Health and Safety Executive
Make a complaint to the Health and Safety Executive
Make a complaint to us
Report a health and safety issue.
Please note that we cannot advise about any private compensation claims that you may consider making against a business.
All complaints are confidential and the aim is to investigate and resolve your complaint in an efficient and thorough manner. A named officer who is competent to investigate health and safety complaints will investigate the complaint on your behalf.
Where we are not the appropriate enforcing authority, we will refer the complaint on your behalf and contact you to inform you of the actions taken.
Types of health and safety complaints we can deal with
We can only take action following a complaint if:
- It relates to a work activity
- We are the correct enforcing authority for the work
- The issue complained about has caused or has potential to cause significant harm
- The issue being complained about relates to the denial of basic employee welfare facilities
- It appears to involve a significant breach of law, for which we are the enforcing authority
What we do about health and safety complaints
We may ask the employer to investigate your complaint or we may look into it ourselves.
If we visit the premises and judge that relevant health and safety legislation is followed, we cannot legally ask for any improvements at the premises. We may be able to make suggestions for improvement, but the law does not require these.
Whistleblowers
If you are reporting a workplace health and safety issue, we need to make you aware of the protection that employment law gives you as a 'whistleblower', especially in relation to unfair dismissal and other potential detriments. You can find out more on whistleblowing from GOV.UK website including the importance of the following the correct process.
Disclosing your details
We ask for your name and correct contact details to allow us to follow-up the issue but we will not disclose your name to your employer if you don't want us to. This is one of the questions you will be asked on the online form.
However, depending on the nature and circumstances of the issue it may be possible for your employer to guess that you notified us, particularly if you’ve already raised the matter with them.
Disclosing information you provide
Occasionally, with good reason, we are asked to keep photographs (or other documents) confidential. We will normally do so, but very exceptionally, when we consider it’s necessary to prevent the risk of serious harm, an inspector may need to release the information.
Anonymous health and safety complaints
We cannot investigate your complaint if you have made it anonymously or you have withheld your contact details. This is because:
- We won't be able to substantiate or discuss the information with you
- We cannot be sure that it is not a malicious complaint
Compensation
We cannot help you get compensation or resolve problems of civil law. The Citizens Advice Bureau can provide further information about your legal rights.