Introduction to Fire Safety Management

15.3.16 Enforcement 
notices
Where an inspector is of the opinion that a person is 
contravening a statutory provision, or has contravened 
a statutory provision in circumstances that make it likely 
that the contravention will continue or be repeated, 
they may serve an improvement notice requiring reme-
dial action to be taken by a specifi ed date. The inspec-
tor may give written confi rmation of the remedial action 
required in the form of a schedule attached to the notice 
but they are not required to do so.
Where an inspector is of the opinion that an activity 
being carried out or likely to be carried out involves, or 
will involve, a risk of serious personal injury, they may 
serve a prohibition notice requiring that the activity is 
suspended. The activity will be suspended either with 
immediate effect or after a specifi ed time. Again, the 
inspector may give written confi rmation of the remedial 
action required in the form of a schedule attached to the 
notice but they are not required to do so.
A person on whom a notice has been served may 
appeal to the Employment Tribunal within 21 days of 
the service date. Where an appeal is lodged against an 
improvement notice, the notice is suspended pending 
the outcome of the appeal. In the case of a prohibition 
notice, the notice will stay in force pending the appeal 
unless otherwise directed by the Employment Tribunal.
15.3.17 Sections 26 to 28
These sections cover the power of the enforcing author-
ity to indemnify their inspectors and provide detail 
regarding the obtaining and disclosure of information by 
the HSC, HSE and enforcing authorities.
15.3.18 Sections 29 to 32
These sections were repealed.
15.3.19 Section 
33
This section covers offences and the penalties that 
may be imposed in criminal proceedings for breaches 
of the HSW Act and supporting regulations. Examples 
of offences and penalties for both summary conviction 
(magistrates’ court) and conviction on indictment (cases 
taken in the Crown Courts) are summarised in Table 1.
The enforcing authorities can initiate criminal 
proceedings regardless of whether any other action 
has been taken. There is no obligation placed upon 
the inspector to warn an offender of their intention to 
prosecute although in practice prosecution is often only 
used when warnings and persuasion have been ignored. 
An inspector may prosecute either an individual person 
or the employer organisation, or both.