A Barbour Guide

Auditors, Inspectors and

Regulators
Current Position
Any safety management system needs to be checked to ensure that it is in place and functioning
properly, both in terms of its internal operation within the organisation (i.e. does the system do what
the organisation thinks it should?) and externally to ensure compliance with legislative requirements.
To make this judgement both internal and external expertise will be needed to properly evaluate
the safety management system to determine if it fulfils the stated aims of the health and safety
policy and also the requirements of relevant legislation. These assessments are made by Auditors,
Inspectors and Regulators.

There are two kinds of Auditors, Inspectors and Powers of Health and Safety
Regulators: those employed or contracted by the Enforcement Inspectors
organisation (or someone working on their behalf,
The powers of health and safety inspectors are
such as insurers) and those working for govern-
specified in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
mental organisations such as the Health and Safety
1974 Section 20 and can be broadly paraphrased as
Executive (HSE), the Local Authority, or the Fire the power to:
and Rescue Service. These bodies are generally
Internal and external • Enter premises at any reasonable time i.e. when
expertise will be referred to as the Enforcement Agencies or Enforcing
there is a work activity taking place.
needed to properly Authorities and their representatives are normally
• Take a constable or any other person authorised
evaluate the safety issued with a warrant.
by the enforcing authority.
management system

Legal Requirements • Take equipment and materials onto premises.

• Carry out examinations and investigations.

Regulators and Official • Direct that premises, or anything at the premises,

Inspectors are left undisturbed.

• Take measurements, photographs, and recordings.

The Legal Requirements for
Enforcement Agencies • Take samples of articles or substances.

In terms of health and safety the legal requirements • Dismantle, process or test substances or articles,

for and powers of the enforcement agencies are and to destroy them if necessary to ensure safety.

provided in the Health and Safety at Work etc. • Take possession of articles or substances in order
Act 1974, Sections 18 to 26 and for fire safety are to examine them, or to ensure that they are not
contained within the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) tampered with or that they will be available for

Order 2005, Articles 25 to 31. evidence.

AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS 2

 • Require anyone whom the inspector has reasona- that they must give the highest priority to protecting

ble cause to believe can give information relevant human lives, or face severe consequences for failing

to his examinations or investigations to answer to do so.

questions and sign a declaration as to the truth of

The Sentencing Council’s Definitive Guidelines for
the answers. This must be done in the absence of
Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter
all persons other than someone nominated by the
and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences came into
interviewee to be present, and any persons which
effect on 1 February 2016.
the inspector may allow to be present.
The fines ranges for prosecutions under the Health
• Require production of, inspect, and take copies of
and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 are as follows:
entries, including documents which it is neces-
• Micro-organisations (turnover less than £2
sary for the inspector to see for the purposes of
million): £50 to £450,000.
investigation.

• Small organisations (turnover between £2 million

• Require facilities and assistance to be provided to
and £10 million): £100 to £1.6 million.
enable an inspector to exercise his powers.

• Medium organisations (turnover between £10

• Take any other power, which is necessary to
million and £50 million): £1,000 to £4 million.
enable inspectors to maintain the legal standards

for which their enforcing authority is responsible. • Large organisations (turnover of £50 million and

above): £3,000 to £10 million.

In addition to these specific powers, the Regulation

of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) regulates A set of separate guidelines for corporate man-
the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance slaughter offences sets fine ranges from £180,000 to
and investigation, and covers the interception of £20 million.
communications. This gives Enforcement Agencies
For offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire
access to limited information on, for example, tele-
Safety) Order 2005, the maximum penalty in the
phone subscriber names and addresses, telephone
Magistrates’ Court is an unlimited fine. Magistrates
usage, emails, and other electronic communications
do not need to send a case to the Crown Court for
as a part of their investigations, where that informa-
sentencing simply because the fine that they can
tion is necessary to safeguard health and safety and
impose is limited.
is proportionate to the risks presented by the offence
Since October 2012, HSE inspectors also have
being investigated.
power to impose fees under the Fee for Intervention
If an offence is determined to have been committed,
(FFI) Scheme where a material breach of health and
the Health and Safety inspector may take one (or
safety legal requirements has been identified. This
more) of the following actions:
potential charge only applies to duty holders where
• Informally advise or warn, verbally or in writing. the HSE is the enforcing authority as at present

neither local authority inspectors nor fire inspectors

• Formally direct improvements in writing.
can impose a fee.
• Serve an improvement notice.
The fee is imposed where an inspector concludes
• Serve a prohibition notice.
that the safety contravention is serious enough for

• Prosecute. them to need to formally write to the organisation

requiring action to remedy the breach. A Notification

The introduction of new and very clear step-by-step
of Contravention (NoC) will indicate that a fee is
Sentencing Guidelines for courts has increased the
payable and this notice must include:
size of fines for health and safety breaches, and

linked them to the size of the company, sending a • The law that the inspector considers has been

very clear signal to businesses and organisations broken.

AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS 3

 • The reason(s) for their opinion.
• Notification that a fee is payable to HSE.
The fee is based on the inspector time involved in
the whole of the visit that identified the breach (even
if it was discovered at the end of a long inspection)
and all the follow up time in writing letters, revisits
and interviews or serving enforcement notices. The
current fee rate is £163 per hour.
Powers of Fire Safety Inspectors
The powers for fire safety inspectors are provided
for under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order
2005, Article 27, which can be paraphrased as
powers to:
• Enter a premises without the use of force.
• Make enquiries relevant to fire safety in accord-
ance with the Order.
• Require the production of relevant fire safety
records, both paper and computerised.
• To inspect and take copies of such records.
• Require the provision of facilities and assistance
to carry out the inspection.
• Take samples of articles or substances to deter-
mine their flammability or fire resistance.
An audit can be
carried out by one • Require the dismantling or testing of articles or
or more persons substances that are believed to be likely to cause
depending on its danger or likely to have caused a fire.
scope
The inspector must produce their evidence of au-
thority—normally a warrant or letter of appointment.
They must also exercise their powers regarding the
dismantling or subject to testing of articles or sub-
stances in the presence of a responsible person from
the organisation if so requested. They must consult
an appropriate person to determine the dangers to
themselves in exercising their powers, or that may be
caused by the exercise of their powers.
It is worth noting that under the Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order 2005, Article 28 any fire officer
of a fire and rescue authority may also exercise the
powers of an inspector if so authorised in writing by
an inspector.
AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS
If an offence is determined to have been committed,
the enforcement inspector may take one (or more) of
the following actions:
• Informally advise or warn, verbally or in writing.
• Serve an alteration notice.
• Serve an enforcement notice.
• Serve a prohibition notice.
• Serve a notice regarding fire fighter’s switches for
luminous tube signs.
Auditors and Internal Inspectors
There is no specific legislation that requires
internal auditors or inspectors to be deployed
within an organisation. However the requirements
of the Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 Regulation 5 provides that the
health and safety arrangements or management sys-
tem must be in place and properly reviewed (amongst
other requirements), thus auditors and inspectors are
likely to be the means whereby this is assured.
Information
Auditors
An Auditor is a person that will check the presence
and correct functioning of a health and safety
management system (such as BS ISO 45001:2018).
They will not be from an enforcement agency, but
are likely to either be internally appointed persons
trained in auditing, or external auditors contracted for
a particular audit or an ongoing system of audits. It is
important to ensure that the auditors are competent
and have received appropriate training and are
sufficiently independent of the activity being audited.
An audit can be carried out by one or more persons
depending on its scope, and this will be based on
the size and complexity of the organisation and its
activities. Where an internal team is required, it is
important to involve a range of representatives from
management, safety specialists and employees.
Clause 9 of ISO 45001 provides guidance on eval-
uating the performance of an OH&S management
4
 system. The sub-clause ‘Internal audit programme’ maintenance checks, checking on use of Personal

(9.2.2) includes requirements for an organisation Protective Equipment (PPE) etc.

to plan, establish, implement and maintain an audit

Insurance inspectors (or surveyors) aim to gather
programme for the evaluation of compliance with
information for insurance companies, underwriters or
legal and other requirements.
brokers, so that a suitable insurance policy can be

If there are trade union appointed safety repre- arranged or premiums assessed. Insurance survey-

sentatives or elected representatives of employee ors visit premises to assess hazards in the construc-

safety on site, then their involvement would help the tion of buildings, or from the use of machinery or

interface with the workforce. The following factors chemicals, or from accidents, fire, burglary or theft.

should be taken into consideration when selecting

auditors: Regulators
• Is the person available for the whole period? Regulators are staff from the enforcement agen-

(Members of the audit team are unlikely to be cies—very often referred to as inspectors—whose

available to carry out normal work duties during function is to check that all necessary legal

the audit.) requirements are being complied with and impose

necessary sanctions where they are not. Their main
• Are there sufficient people appropriately trained
functions are to:
and competent in the team?
• Promote and achieve sustained compliance with
• Are there sufficient people on the team with
health and safety law.
specialist skills in either health and safety man-

agement or equipment and engineering skills? • Ensure employers take action to deal immediately
with serious risks.
• Are there sufficient people who are familiar with
• Ensure employers, managers, or directors (and
the systems to be audited?
others who have duties under health and safety
Many major clients, especially the government and
legislation) are held to account if they fail in their
public authorities, require their contractors to have
duties.
effective health and safety arrangements in place.
If the regulator does not follow proper procedure and
For major contracts, an auditor may visit initially and
there are concerns about their actions, a complaint
periodically to ensure health and safety policy is be-
can be made to the inspector’s line manager who
ing effectively implemented. Satisfactory health and
will investigate the concerns and report back. If the
safety management is invariably a condition of being
response is not satisfactory, the complaint can be
placed, or remaining on, a ‘preferred contractors’ list.
escalated through the enforcing agency’s complaints
procedure. The HSE have also established an
Inspectors “Independent Regulatory Challenge Panel” which

Usually, inspectors are part of the enforcing authority, will hear complaints regarding advice given by HSE

or professionals employed to undertake independ- or LA inspectors about health and safety which an

ent assessment of technical equipment, such as organisation thinks is incorrect or goes beyond what

pressure systems or lifting equipment in order to is required to control the risk adequately. Matters can

meet a statutory requirement. However, in some only be referred to the panel if the normal procedure

organisations—usually larger ones—suitably trained of trying to resolve the matter with the inspector and

managers could be used or a compliance depart- their line manager has not produced satisfaction. The
Panel is advisory only.
ment with inspectors, whose function is to ensure

that all necessary due diligence is taken in com- The Better Regulation Delivery Office published a
plying with legal requirements. Inspection involves Regulator’s Code which has statutory force since
such activities as housekeeping tours, equipment April 2014 under the provisions of Section 23 of

AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS 5

 the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006.
The principles in this Code include requirements for
regulators to carry out their activities in a way which
supports those they regulate to comply and grow,
and to base their regulatory activities on risk. There
are a number of other requirements in the Code
including a requirement for transparency.
Regulatory Activities During
a Pandemic or Other National
Emergency
The UK Government and Devolved Administrations
deployed a number of measures to control the
spread of COVID-19 in 2020 and throughout this
period Britain’s workplace regulator (the HSE)
maintained its regulatory function and supported the
national response to minimise the impacts of the
virus on health and the economy. It emphasised that
during the pandemic duty holders continued to be
obliged to comply with health and safety legislation
and requirements to manage and control workplace
risk—including new risks arising from COVID-19. It
did modify its own modus operandi to reflect public
health guidance (e.g. inspectors working remotely,
enhanced use of technology and social distancing)
but maintained its usual regulatory approach with a
proportionate response to the risks and challenges
An auditor must generated by the pandemic. Its advisory services
be sufficiently remained operational and it used its website and
independent of the social media to communicate information and
system (but who updates to duty holders. It is anticipated that a similar
may be employed approach would be adopted should another national
by the organisation) emergency arise, so duty holders should not expect
to be exempted from maintaining workplace safety
so as to ensure that
in such circumstances, but rather to be diligent in
such an assessment
identifying any potential new risks and implementing
is objective
any nationally specified or tailored control measures.
Key Actions
The key actions for organisations are to:
• Establish the need for auditors and internal in-
spectors, ensuring suitable and sufficient training
and support.
• Determine the requirements for auditors, inspec-
tors or surveyors as required by commercial
AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS
non-legislative requirements, such as insurers or
clients.
• Have an established protocol for dealing with
regulators from enforcement agencies and
responding to them.
• Identify the regulators from the enforcement
agencies that have responsibility for your premis-
es and ensure suitable liaison and communication
with them.
• Ensure that suitable actions are taken to remedy
non-compliances, identified by any auditor,
inspector, or regulator.
Key Terms
Auditor
An Auditor is a person that will undertake a system-
atic assessment of the adequacy of management
systems to achieve the purpose referred to in the
organisation’s health and safety policy. An auditor
must be sufficiently independent of the system (but
who may be employed by the organisation) so as to
ensure that such an assessment is objective. They
will not be from an enforcement agency, but are likely
to either be internally appointed people trained in au-
diting or external auditors contracted for a particular
audit or an ongoing system of audits.
Inspector
An inspector is a person that will check technical
aspects of systems or equipment within an organisa-
tion. Most staff from enforcing agencies are likely to
be referred to as inspectors, but often engineers and
other technical specialists undertaking examinations
and inspections (e.g. for insurance companies) are
also referred to as inspectors.
Regulators
Regulators are members of enforcement agencies
charged with undertaking investigations to determine
the compliance of an employer with the relevant legal
requirements. They will have been appointed as
Inspectors by their enforcement authority.
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 Related Documents
and Further
Information
There are a large number of relevant documents

available in the Barbour document library. Good

search terms will be ‘auditor’ or ‘inspector’, however

the use of these terms on their own will give an

excessively high number of documents and so they

should be coupled with a more focused term, such

as an industry sector or task specific word.

Better Regulation Delivery Office:

• Regulators’ Code 2014. The Regulators Code has

statutory force.

British Standards Institution:

• BS 45002:2023: Occupational Health and Safety

Management Systems. General Guidelines for the

Application of ISO 45001 2008.

• BS EN ISO 19011:2018 Guidelines for Auditing

Management Systems.

• BS ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and

Safety Management Systems. Requirements With

Guidance for Use.

Health and Safety Executive:

• Enforcement Policy Statement (41: 2015).

• Managing for Health and Safety (HSG65).

• When a Health and Safety Inspector Calls: What

to Expect When We Visit Your Business. (HSC14

[rev2] 2017.

Date of Review: February 2023

AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS 7

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AUDITORS, INSPECTORS AND REGULATORS 8