When it’s never a good idea to mess with the HSE
What happened?
David Robert Lane, 59 years old, was working on a cottage refurbishment when unsafe work caught the attention of two inspectors from the HSE in February 2025 in Rugeley, Staffordshire. They had been carrying out routine inspections when they saw two people on the site accessing a roof from the bucket of an excavator.
Clearly identifying the practice to be unsafe, the inspectors decided they had to stop and take action.
There were around ten workers on the site and when the inspectors approached, the man, who would later be identified as the site manager, came over to intervene. He refused to identify himself, except as ‘James Bond’, and rebuffed their attempts to inspect the site. He went on to tell the inspectors he was in fact the property owner, that the men on site were unpaid friends and relatives, and that they had no legal right to inspect. He followed that up with threats of violence, at which point the inspectors withdrew.
The two inspectors returned to the site a week later, accompanied by police officers. The site manager greeted them with a shout of “It’s PC Plod!” while still refusing to identify himself. He maintained that he was the owner, told all his staff not to speak to HSE, except to confirm that they were his relatives and not at work, and told the inspectors once again that they had no right to inspect and to leave the site.
After making several enquiries, the inspectors were able to identify the man as the site manager – this resulted in him being served with enforcement action.
Upon receiving notification that he was to be prosecuted for the offence of obstruction, under 2 counts of section 33(1)(h) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, he responded with three expletive laden emails, and said “I won’t jump through your hoops”.
Legal Outcome
David Robert Lane failed to attend court on two occasions, and on the latter was found guilty after being tried in his absence in January 2026. He was fined £3,000, and ordered to pay full costs of £6,450 plus a victim surcharge of £1,200.
What can we learn from what happened?
It’s never a good idea to mess with the HSE. After the hearing, the HSE said: “We accept that not all employers will be pleased to see us, but the vast majority are professional and accept us with good grace.
While the HSE’s role is one of enforcement, and they can exercise a range of powers should they see fit, they should not be met with resistance. In most cases, the HSE and local councils through their environmental health departments, exercise discretion regarding who they take action against. If you work with them, respect the advice they offer, and demonstrate you have a positive approach to managing health and safety, then you are at least minimising the chances of them exercising those enforcement powers. Take a different approach and the odds are reversed.
Source of Information
HSE Press Release