December 2011 - HSE will no longer accept anonymous calls

Businesses are often visited by inspectors from the HSE, or local authorities, because either members of staff or the public have reported them for breaching safety laws. In most cases the alert would have been made anonymously on the telephone. However this can no longer happen.

The HSE has stated that it won't investigate: “when you make a complaint anonymously to the HSE or withhold contact details. This is because we are not able to substantiate or discuss the information with you or ensure that it is not a malicious complaint”.

The HSE was finding that many of the complaints made anonymously were either malicious or very poor quality. So rather than wasting inspectors' - and the company under scrutiny's - time, from now on only complaints with contact details will be followed up.

As with accident reporting, the HSE has moved the reporting system almost exclusively online. This means that anyone making a claim must complete a three-page form. Plus, they must fill in every box - which includes providing a valid e-mail address, contact name, the address where the work activity causing the complaint is taking place and details of the business operating at this location. Another positive is that the HSE is insisting that the complaint is made to the company first. If this hasn't happened, the individual making the report must explain why.

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