I would say its a job for the HR If verbal warnings are not working, next would be written I would say.

If MD and HR are suggesting it is time for a disciplinary then what further advice are you looking for? HR know what they are doing and they can take it from here, and you can be happy they are taking H&S seriously.

He's already had a first informal warning - from the MD no less. Next step has to be initiating disciplinary process. This is usually something like first, final and then sling your hook. Good old HR - bouncing the issue straight back at you! Maybe part of the problem here is a misuse of "near miss" procedures? This isn't a "near miss" it's a straightforward non-compliance with a (presumably) mandatory work instruction. In this instance it so happens to be safety related.

And again this appears to be very weak management, which is the usual these days, inclusive of the MD & this is a HR area after U have advised I advise that every supervisor at whatever level & all departments are updated as to what their duties are & the consequences of failure and the persons immediate supervisor also needs to be disciplined as its they who are conniving with the employee - after updating that is all U can do noting that it is not your role [or it should not be] to enforce the law nor company rules etc. as that is what we have supervisors for. Best of luck

Any failure to follow rules has to be dealt with by the company's disciplinary processes - end of. I don't understand why H&S people try to do anything else. The process should include an investigation into why the person broke the rule, to make sure it was not a failure of the rule or management; and to determine if there was any mitigation. Then the outcome will typically be verbal warning, written warning, suspension etc. - but this will depend on the company's process. On the first occasion this process may be handled informally (i.e. the investigation is a quick "why aren't you wearing glasses - please make sure you do from now on"). It will normally then be escalated to something more formal. I think failure to apply disciplinary processes is one reason that H&S struggles. Again, I don't know why there seems to be a problem with doing that. Discipline does not automatically mean someone gets punished. But ultimately, if that is the only way to get compliance there is no problem with punishment.

You might with to point out that allowing non-compliance could create a situation where the company could be held liable were an accident to happen. Chris

I assume there has been a risk assessment carried out and either with the employees or at least communicated to the employees. A signature of reading and understanding would be a good idea. If any of the above then he is in breach of H&S regulations. If the HSE get wind of this they will be down on you like a ton of bricks, as my mum used to say.

Who was doing the observations, and what action did they take in the past. This appears to be management failings, and maybe it's the managers that need the discipline for not taken appropriate action on previous occasions. If the situation were appropriately addressed upon the first/second observation I am sure you would not be asking for advice - on here. If I witness a staff not wearing their PPE I do not often talk to the staff member. I speak with their line manager asking why are they allowing staff to not wear their PPE, i.e. I put the accountability onto the line manager for not managing their staff appropriately. Our HR department have given warning to managers when they do not manager their H&S functions upon my advise, including in the past when PPE is not worn by workers. Agree or disagree with this approach - this works for us and has improved the safety culture of our organisation.