Journey
Responding to an HSENI investigation
What to do when the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland contacts you. Covers enforcement notices, RIDDOR NI reporting, compliance gaps, and your right to appeal.
HSENI has contacted you
If you have received a visit, letter, or enforcement notice from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, this journey explains your immediate obligations, how to check your reporting is correct, where to fix compliance gaps, and your rights of appeal.
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Understand what you are facing
HSENI enforces workplace health and safety law in Northern Ireland under the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. Inspectors can visit without notice, enter any workplace, and take immediate enforcement action where they find serious risks. You must cooperate fully with the investigation.
Responding to HSENI enforcement notices
Understand the types of notice HSENI can issue, what each requires of you, and the timescales for compliance
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Check your reporting obligations
Many HSENI investigations begin because a reportable incident was not reported, or was reported late. Northern Ireland has its own RIDDOR regulations with differences from the GB version. Check now that all workplace accidents, dangerous occurrences, and occupational diseases have been reported correctly and within the required timescales.
RIDDOR reporting in Northern Ireland
Check which incidents are reportable under the NI regulations and confirm your reports are up to date
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Review and fix compliance gaps
If HSENI has identified failings, address them promptly. Even if you plan to appeal a notice, demonstrating that you are taking corrective action shows good faith and may influence the outcome. Review your risk assessments, training records, safe systems of work, and equipment maintenance against your legal duties.
Health and safety duties in Northern Ireland
Review the full set of employer obligations enforced by HSENI and identify where your compliance has fallen short
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Understand your appeal rights
You can appeal an improvement or prohibition notice to an industrial tribunal within 21 days. An improvement notice is suspended while your appeal is heard, but a prohibition notice remains in force unless the tribunal directs otherwise. Seek legal advice promptly if you believe a notice has been issued incorrectly. If you do not appeal within 21 days, the notice becomes final.
HSENI enforcement: notices, appeals, and penalties
Detailed guide to your appeal rights, tribunal process, and penalty framework