Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February to Question 147867, on Employment: Coronavirus, what instructions the Health and Safety Executive provide its inspectors on the serving of prohibition notices to workplaces in which a (a) serious and (b) significant event has taken place.

The category labels “serious” and “significant” are used within the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Enforcement Management Model (EMM). The EMM supports inspectors in considering enforcement options requiring improvements in workplaces but is not relevant to the use of prohibition powers. HSE has not therefore issued instructions to inspectors about the use of EMM in relation to their use of prohibition notices.

HSE takes Covid-19 safety at work very seriously and it is playing a critical role in the national response to the pandemic. The Government has provided additional funding of £14 million to HSE to strengthen its capacity to tackle Covid-19.

Since the start of the pandemic HSE has carried over 127,000 COVID-19 spot checks and responded to over 19,000 concerns. Over 700 checks a day are currently taking place. Spot checks have been targeted in those industries where workers are most likely to be vulnerable to transmission risks.

HSE’s evidence is that more than 90% of the businesses checked have the right precautions in place or are willing to make necessary changes promptly and without the need for enforcement notices. HSE will continue to take enforcement action where appropriate, but the best use of its time and resource to ensure employers take the right action promptly is often to educate, persuade or require matters to be put right immediately.