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either in the premises or in the atmosphere, or in the vicinity of the premises.
8.
An Inspector may order equipment, plant, substances, etc. to be dismantled or
destroyed if they are a cause of immediate danger.
9.
An Inspector may take into the possession of the Health and Safety Executive
articles or substances.
10.
An Inspector has the right to require the production of, and take copies of, books
and documents which are relevant to his work.
11.
An Inspector has the right to examine any person, either alone or with a second
person, as he thinks fit, and to require that person to provide a written statement
of fact.
12.
An Inspector may conduct legal proceedings before a Court of Summary
Jurisdiction (Magistrate's Court) in England and Wales, and serve Improvement
and Prohibition Notices under Sections 21, 22 and 39 respectively.
Enforcement Notices: Within our present judicial system, the time interval between the
detection of a criminal offence and its prosecution before the appropriate court is fairly
lengthy. Robens recognised the need to remedy breaches of health and safety as quickly
as possible and to that end introduced the enforcement notice procedure as a principal
weapon in the inspector’s armory. A prosecution may still ensue but, as we shall see, the
enforcement notice provides inspectors with an on-the-spot remedy for offences and
offenders.
Improvement Notices (Section 21): If an inspector is of the opinion that a person is
contravening one or more of the relevant statutory provisions, or has contravened one
or more of those provisions in circumstances that make it likely that the contravention
will continue or be repeated, he may serve on him a notice stating his opinion, with
reasons, and requiring that person to remedy the contravention within a specified
period. The period must not be less than the period within which an appeal against the
notice may be brought; this period is 21 days.
Beyond that, the period allowed is left to the inspector’s discretion and will be governed
by the seriousness of the matters involved and the length of time and ease with which
the necessary action can be taken to comply with the notice.
The notice may include what action the inspector considers necessary to put matters
right and may make reference for that purpose to a Code of Practice or Guidance Note or
British Standard. The notice may be issued for any activities to which relevant statutory
provisions apply.
An Improvement Notice is served on the person responsible for the breach of the law,
i.e. the employer. If the law being breached imposes obligations on employers but the
actual breach is by an employee then the notice is still served on the employer.
