Posted By martinw From the HSE website Kenneth Need help with a particular issue, contact one of our experts by... Telephone: 0845 345 0055 Fax: 0845 408 9566 Minicom: 0845 408 9577 E-mail: hse.infoline@connaught.plc.uk Open 8 am - 6 pm Monday to Friday

Posted By MarcusB Or use the online form: https://www.hse.gov.uk/feedback.htm

Posted By martinw Almost definitely not Swis ;)

Posted By Kenneth Patrick Martin and others, these links do not take you to the HSE. As I understand it they have contracted out this service to a third party organisation that basically just quotes you back the regulations, as you and I are able to do for ourselves.

Posted By Kenneth Patrick I am interested to know how we all ask HSE for advice. The Risk council's report implies that many small companies lack confidence to ask. It seems to me strange that anyone could lack confidence to ask for advice from an on online helpline. Therefore I speculate that they mean more of an opinion.

Posted By GeoffB4 Going through the HSE info line has on the several cases I've pursued has ended in some person quoting rules and regulations and having no knowledge of interpretation or the wider issues. The only way I've been able to do it (several times now) is laboriously trace a specialist inspector who deals with that particular aspect/topic. Each time the advice given by them has been researched and of excellent quality. And before getting too involved, a number of years ago, and being naive and new into safety, I invited a 'very friendly' HSE inspector to have a look round and provide some advice. We ended up with two improvement notices! Fortunately no one ever asked how the HSE had got involved.

Posted By GeoffB4 Quote: I used to find the infoline very useful...They always referred me back to a relevant (senior) person HSE, should the query required more expert advice Amazing, the different experiences!

Posted By Pete48 There are three oft heard reasons why smaller business don't ask for HSE help. Fear that they will learn that they need to do loads more than they do. "Better to plead ignorance" is a common misconception that I hear. What they get when they do contact is not what they seek. I don't mean the quality of any response but the content. What they seek is often the simplest cost-effective solution to their duties. "Tell me what I need to do practically and how I can do it and stay in business." Fear that if the "safety police" arrive and look round they are bound to find stuff that I will need to spend money on. Not that they might get prosecuted since many don't even understand that bit either. My observations are based on visiting thousands of SME over the past 5 years. The responses above are typical of thew response when I ask them if they have ever visited the HSE website or spoken to the HSE for advice. I am sure this is one reason why the HSE has changed the style of the website and other information over previous years in order to make it more responsive to these demands.

Posted By Swis The main reason is the ignorance for the fact that you can adice is available from HSE free of charge.. Geoff, I'm quite surprised that you are surprised..:-) Have you ever tried IOSH helpline?? How did you find them?

Posted By Peter Tanczos Pete48 - Good comments, and I have to agree that they are typical of feedback from SME's. However if we look at them in more detail; 1)Fear that they will learn that they need to do loads more than they do. "Better to plead ignorance" is a common misconception that I hear. - This could also be interpreted as "I actually don't want any advice but I'm happy to complain about HSE" 2)What they get when they do contact is not what they seek. I don't mean the quality of any response but the content. What they seek is often the simplest cost-effective solution to their duties. "Tell me what I need to do practically and how I can do it and stay in business." - Perhaps unfortunately, HSE cannot tell you how to run your business or how to do the work. They tell you how you're not complying with the law and some of the more helpful ones will give you a number of alternative solutions to gain compliance. They can't make the choice for you and they are also constrained by not being able to recomend brand names or suppliers. Also being "told what to do" means you don't have to think about the issues/do the risk assessment/have any commitment to H&S 3)Fear that if the "safety police" arrive and look round they are bound to find stuff that I will need to spend money on. Not that they might get prosecuted since many don't even understand that bit either. - That's why we have consultants. They will likely still find stuff that needs to have money spent, but you can ignore the advice (at your own risk) or you can timetable in when to spend the money. Alternatively most SME's don't fill out an F9 anyway, but if they do, they are likely to be visited by an HSAO (Health & Safety Advisory Officer)who gives free advice and has no enforcement powers (They will pass on "intelligence" to an inspector if the place has serious issues, though)