HSE site inspection: what to expect and how to prepare

What triggers an HSE inspection

Not all HSE inspections follow an incident. They fall into two categories.

Proactive inspections

HSE runs regular inspection campaigns targeting construction because of its consistently high fatality rate. In 2024/25, 35 construction workers were killed at work - 28% of all UK worker fatalities, from a sector that employs 6% of the workforce. Source: HSE Construction Statistics 2025.

Inspectors also drive past sites. If an inspector observes working at height without edge protection, unsecured excavations near the public, or inadequate fencing from a public road, they will stop. This is legitimate and common.

Reactive inspections

Reactive inspections are triggered by a reported injury or dangerous occurrence under RIDDOR, a complaint from a worker or member of the public, intelligence about a specific site, or a fatality. There is no notice before a proactive visit. Reactive inspections following an incident may also arrive unannounced.

What an inspector can do

HSE inspectors are appointed under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. On site, they can enter at any reasonable time when workers are present, examine any document or equipment, take photographs and measurements, interview any person on site - workers can be interviewed without their employer present - and issue improvement or prohibition notices immediately.

An inspector who identifies an immediate risk of serious personal injury can issue a prohibition notice on the spot. There is no requirement to warn you first or give time to remedy the situation before the notice takes effect.

Documents they ask for first

When an inspector arrives, they will ask for the site manager and then ask for documents. They expect them immediately - not emailed from head office, not found in a welfare cabin filing system. Immediately. These are the documents they typically ask for first, in this order:

1. The Construction Phase Plan - current, site-specific, updated as the project has developed
2. The F10 notification confirmation - on notifiable projects, confirmed submitted and displayed on site
3. Site induction records - every person currently on site, with evidence of induction
4. Current RAMS for work in progress - not last month's documents, the ones covering today's activities
5. Evidence workers were briefed on those RAMS - who received the briefing, when, and what was covered
6. Active permit to work records - any current permits, properly authorised and not expired
7. An incident and near miss log - to understand your safety culture, not just compliance

An inspector who finds documents that cannot be produced is likely to conclude they either do not exist or have not been maintained. That inference leads to enforcement. The assumption you want an inspector to form is: this site is well-run, the records are complete, and the work is being done safely. Documents that appear immediately reinforce that assumption. Documents that cannot be found undermine it.

Producing these documents instantly requires having a system that keeps them accessible from site. AttendIQ produces a full compliance export in under a minute from your phone - clock-in records, inductions, CSCS verification, and permits all in one place.

The site walk-round

After reviewing documents, the inspector walks the site with the manager. They compare what the paperwork says against what is physically happening. Common areas of focus include working at height controls, excavation support, plant and vehicle segregation from pedestrians, welfare facilities, PPE compliance, and any hot works activities.

The most damaging thing an inspector can find is a gap between what the paperwork says and what is happening. If your RAMS requires full-face RPE for cutting operations and workers are cutting without it, the inspector has identified both a physical failing and a failure to enforce your own documented controls.

Improvement notices

An improvement notice is issued when an inspector believes there is a breach of health and safety law that needs remedying. It specifies the legal provision being contravened, the inspector's reasons, and the period for remedying the breach - a minimum of 21 days.

Work can continue during the period of an improvement notice unless a separate prohibition notice has also been issued. The notice can be appealed to an Employment Tribunal within 21 days, which suspends the notice pending the outcome.

Failing to comply with an improvement notice by the specified date is a criminal offence, with an unlimited fine on conviction. Improvement notices appear in HSE's public enforcement register.

Prohibition notices

A prohibition notice stops specific work activities immediately. It is issued when an inspector believes an activity involves a risk of serious personal injury. It takes effect on issue - no waiting period, no opportunity to remedy the situation first.

Work stopped by a prohibition notice cannot restart until the conditions in the notice are fully met. If the whole site is covered, the whole site stops. On a project with contractual milestones, this can trigger liquidated damages provisions. The financial impact goes well beyond the direct costs of stopping work.

Prohibition notices appear in HSE's public enforcement register, which can be searched online by your clients, main contractors, and procurement teams running pre-qualification checks.

Prosecution and fines

HSE achieved a 96% conviction rate in 2024/25 with £33 million in fines. Prosecution typically follows serious or fatal incidents, persistent non-compliance, or cases where a notice has been ignored.

Fines are calculated using Sentencing Council guidelines. They are tied to the company's annual turnover, meaning a larger business faces a proportionally larger fine for the same breach. Fines range from tens of thousands to several million pounds. Court costs are awarded on top.

Individual directors, site managers, and supervisors can also be prosecuted personally. Custodial sentences are possible on indictment for serious offences. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 applies where a gross breach of duty causes a death.

How to prepare before an inspector arrives

The sites that handle inspections best share one characteristic: their records reflect reality, they are current, and they can be produced immediately.

Know who is on site right now. An inspector may ask you to list everyone currently on site and produce their induction records. A digital system that records every clock-in automatically means you can answer this in seconds, not minutes.

Keep the CPP current. Review and update it at the start of each significant new phase of work. An inspector who sees a CPP that has not been updated in months will question whether it is being used.

Maintain a live RAMS register. Know which RAMS are currently approved, who has been briefed, and when. An inspector asking about the RAMS for work currently in progress should get an immediate, confident answer.

Track CSCS card expiry proactively. Do not wait for a card to expire at the gate. See our guide to CSCS card types for what card each occupation requires.

Close permits properly. An open permit for an activity that finished days ago signals weak systems. Close each permit as soon as the authorised activity is complete.

Record near misses, not just incidents. A near miss log with no entries on a busy site suggests you are not looking for near misses. That signals a safety culture concern to an inspector. Near misses happen on every construction site - recording them demonstrates you are managing safety actively, not just reactively.