A neighbor company has had a visit from the HSE but the inspectors said they were from an agency and would NOT let the owners follow the 'Inspectors' around during their visit. My questions: 1.Do or since when have the HSE used temporary / agency inspectors? To me the visit sounds a bit suspect. The company is a building contractor. 2.Since when have you been prevented from following an inspector on a site visit? Sorry for being abrupt but, I MUST HAVE A RAPID RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE. All assistance gratefully received. Regards, Badger

Hi Barrie, I have had experience of contractors working in the enforcement sector for Local Authorities but not for the HSE - call the HSE to see if they are legit. Also get the number off their warrant card - although I accept the horse may have bolted by now? Stu

Bit late now but you should have asked to see their card and telephoned their office? If I ever get told I can't go round site with an inspector I will ask him/her to leave the premises immediately.

Badger From what you describe I think you are right to be suspicious. As described by HSE at http://www.hse.gov.uk/en...e/inspector-warrants.htm each person appointed as an inspector by HSE has a warrant card which identifies the person, confirms his appointment, etc. My recollection of training sessions for new HSE inspectors in the late 1970s is that we were told to carry our warrants at all times while working and be willing to show them if asked. The warrants did not include any contact details, so it was also good practice to carry and readily provide visit cards with our office address and phone number. Some readers of this thread may well ask what a HSE inspector's warrant actually look like so I tried using the forum search facility for my responses to a thread about a similar topic on this forum several years ago. (This was unsuccessful as were several subsequent sample searches for other responses which I've made over the past several years. Therefore, please can anyone advise if the search facility is inoperative at present or has been altered within the past few months?) However, while doing an internet search about HSE warrants I came across the relevant thread at http://forum.iosh.co.uk/?g=posts&t=103445 My response at #8 includes a description of the HSE warrant card. Also, as asked back in 2011, please can anyone with much more recent experience of working for or with HSE advise if the HSE warrant has changed significantly from my description? Badger - If you haven't already done so, no doubt you will be advising the neighbouring firm to promptly contact HSE - and also the local authority (LA) environmental health department as it might well be the enforcing authority for the firm's premises. If the visitors were really from some sort of agency doing work for HSE or LA, surely they should have offered proof of identity, contact details and clearly explained the purpose of their visit. The fact that they would not let anyone escort them around the premises strikes me as highly suspicious. Therefore, if it transpires that the visitors were probably bogus callers, the HSE and/or LA ought to be interested in finding out more about them because impersonating an inspector is considered a serious offence. If the neighbouring firm has a CCTV security system which can provide photos or video footage of the visitors, this could be very helpful. Also, it might be appropriate to consider how other local businesses can be warned about the seemingly dodgy visitors.

To be honest, I think I produced my warrant card about four times in nearly 15 years as an Inspector and then only when asked. I did, however, give over a business card straight away on entering a premises. Coming back to the OP, I'm not aware of HSE ever having used agency Inspectors. To carry out the functions of an Inspector, they would need to be warranted under HSWA74 and, considering the role is much more than having H&S knowledge, I seriously doubt that HSE would go down that route as they could not be satisfied that an agency employee would have the skills to carry out the full breadth of an Inspector's duties.

Oh, I visited plenty of premises with receptionists and usually a business card was sufficient. But then, I would also often be wearing an HSE coat or fleece, and carrying an HSE notebook too!

Building site / Contractors, not normally L.A. territory. No names , no warrant! Refusal to be accompanied. Wise up old boy - Christmas is coming and perhaps a heist is planned for your site. I would tip off the police. Jon

I would most definatly call the Police they may well have visited many companies in the area with view to returning out of hours. My experience of living in a rural area is it is very common for this type of pre check to be carried out by criminals to pin point exactly what there is so they can arranged a buyer of the stock they intend to steel.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wcovl100.pdf A pity you did not take their details. Name, address and organisation they are employed by. I hope you did not give them access to sensitive data.

Never thought of the crime angle - sounds very suspect now. I too would be at least calling the non emergency police number and be asking to speak to the local crime prevention officer and asking for them to call round. Check alarms, doors, etc etc. for efficacy - maybe even speak to insurers? Is there any CCTV nearby that might have picked the 'inspectors' or their vehicle up? Put the word out to neighbours as they may be looking at ways to get into their sites from yours; I know of two sites with my old employers that were used as a gateway to neighbours sites and afforded protection from prying eyes to allow the naer do goods to get up to their tricks.

There appears to be a more fundamental issue with your neighbouring company as it does not seem to have robust measures of ascertaining the identity of visitors and process for permitting visitors onto the site/facility???.

1. HSE don't use agency inspectors 2. HSE don't inspect without being accompanied by site personnel 3. HSE warrants have significantly changed since the above description was given. I do not want to give a full description - for obvious reasons - if people are trying to pass themselves off as inspectors. The warrant will be in a holder about the size of a pocket diary, brown leather (old) or brown faux leather (new). The warrant will bear a photo, a warrant number and an expiry date. The inspector's full name will be shown. There will be a signature of the authorising officer (not the inspector). On the back of the warrant are paragraphs explaining which powers the particular inspector has been entitled to exercise. These are referenced to a accompanying leaflet "Warranted powers of HSE inspectors" which is also in the warrant holder. 4. If you want to check the credentials - ask to see the warrant. and 5. Phone the switchboard number on the inspector's business card or 6. As someone did the other day with me phone the Advisory Team on 0300 003 1747 during office hours - 8.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday. How do I know - I'm an inspector.