The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken unprecedented enforcement action against an occupational health service provider for the first time, signalling that the HSE is prepared to hold occupational health providers, as well as employers, accountable where poor practice places workers at risk.
Jonathan Gawthrop, Group Chief QHSE Officer, OCS (and also member of our Make a Difference Leaders Steering Committee), brought this important development to our attention. We wanted to share it more widely because it represents a significant milestone for workplace health and wellbeing, reinforcing that good occupational health is not simply about having services in place, but ensuring those services are competent, clinically robust and capable of preventing harm.
HSE’s first enforcement action against an occupational health provider
The HSE has issued its first-ever Prohibition Notice against an occupational health provider after inspectors found that health surveillance was being carried out by personnel who were inadequately trained, unqualified and unsupervised.
Inspectors concluded that the failings created a risk of serious and irreversible harm because early signs of occupational illnesses, including asthma, dermatitis and noise-induced hearing loss, could go undetected.
The regulator subsequently served an Improvement Notice, citing wider concerns including inadequate clinical governance, poor quality assurance, insufficient occupational health oversight and a lack of clear procedures for escalating concerns when health risks were identified.
A clear signal that suppliers will be scrutinised
While employers have always carried the legal responsibility for protecting employee health, this action demonstrates that the HSE is also prepared to intervene directly where occupational health providers themselves fall below acceptable standards.
Julie Wood, HSE Occupational Health Inspector, described the decision as a significant step that reflects the regulator’s determination to act where “substandard services are putting people in harm’s way.”
She warned that poor-quality health surveillance can give employers false reassurance while leaving workers unknowingly exposed to preventable occupational disease.
Why this matters for employers
For employers, the case serves as an important reminder that outsourcing occupational health does not outsource responsibility. Employers remain legally responsible for ensuring statutory health surveillance is carried out where required, making provider selection and oversight an important part of their duty of care.
Where health surveillance is required under legislation such as the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations or the Control of Noise at Work Regulations, organisations must satisfy themselves that the providers they appoint are competent and have appropriate clinical governance arrangements in place.
This is particularly important because effective health surveillance is designed to identify the earliest signs of work-related ill health, allowing employers to intervene before conditions become permanent or life changing.
Prevention depends on quality, not just provision
The enforcement action also reinforces a broader shift taking place across workplace health and wellbeing.
Increasingly, regulators and policymakers are placing greater emphasis on prevention rather than simply responding once employees become ill. However, early detection only works if the health surveillance designed to identify emerging occupational illness is itself effective.
For occupational health providers, that means demonstrating appropriate clinical leadership, qualified practitioners, robust governance and clear processes for acting on findings. For employers, it means carrying out proper due diligence when selecting providers rather than assuming all services deliver the same standard of care.
The bottom line
This landmark case sends a clear message that occupational health provision will face greater scrutiny in the years ahead.
For employers, it is a timely opportunity to review existing occupational health arrangements and ask an important question: not simply whether health surveillance is taking place, but whether it is being delivered to the standard needed to genuinely protect workers’ health.
As HSE continues to sharpen its focus on preventing work-related ill health (including psychosocial risk), both employers and their suppliers will increasingly be expected to demonstrate that workplace health and wellbeing is being managed proactively, competently and effectively.
The HSE public enforcement register can be found at www.hse.gov.uk.
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