HSE prohibition notice: what the check means
What an HSE prohibition notice is, why it is the most serious kind of health and safety notice, the harmless explanations and what to ask a supplier.
- Severity
- High
- Category
- Operational
- Plan
- Free and above
- Test code
- OPS-004
- Source
- Health and Safety Executive public register of enforcement notices · check it yourself
0.08% of UK companies show the related measure: health and safety enforcement notice
The published figure counts companies served any HSE enforcement notice in the past three years, not only this kind.
4,277 of 5,416,028 companies where this can be known, measured 1 October 2026. From the UK Supplier Risk Index, public registers only.
What this test checks
Looks for prohibition notices served on the company by the Health and Safety Executive. An inspector serves one when an activity involves, or will involve, a risk of serious personal injury, and the activity must stop, either immediately or by a set date, until the risk is dealt with.
It is a stronger step than an improvement notice, which gives a company time to put a breach right while work continues.
What a fail looks like
The company has been served at least one prohibition notice. An inspector judged that something it was doing could seriously injure someone.
Harmless explanations
- A notice can relate to a single site, machine or job in a large organisation and be put right quickly.
- Notices can be appealed to an employment tribunal, and some are withdrawn.
What to do
- Ask what the notice was for, whether it has been complied with and what changed.
- For contractors working on your premises, ask for their current risk assessments and method statements for similar work.
- Look for a pattern: several notices, or notices for the same kind of failing, matter more than one.
Background: Environmental and social risk.
Related tests
- OPS-005HSE Notice Non-Compliance
- OPS-006HSE Notice Currently Ongoing
- OPS-011HSE Criminal Conviction
- DRV-026New HSE Enforcement Action
Part of the test catalogue. Every check Senserity runs, with its severity and the plan it is available on.
Last reviewed .