Cornish roofer sentenced after flouting HSE orders — what construction must do now

Cornish roofer sentenced after flouting HSE inspector — a sharp reminder for construction on cooperation, records and ISO 45001

Key facts

A Cornish roofer has been sentenced after failing to comply with requests for information from a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector. The same operative ignored a prohibition notice, verbally abused the inspector and failed to attend court. The HSE received a concern that prompted the inspection and subsequent enforcement action. Reports note that workers were put at risk by the roofer’s actions.

Why this matters to the construction industry

This incident is not an isolated personality clash between an inspector and a tradesperson. It exposes common failure modes in small contracting businesses and sub‑contract supply chains: weak documentation, poor acceptance of regulatory oversight, inadequate training and ambiguous lines of responsibility. In construction, particularly roofing where work at height is routine, those failures translate directly into life and death risk.

Beyond the immediate human cost, non‑cooperation with inspectors and ignoring prohibition notices creates additional legal, financial and reputational exposure for principal contractors, clients and supply chain partners. Regulators expect constructive engagement. When they do not get it they escalate, and escalation can end with prosecution and sentencing, as in this case.

What organisations in construction should learn from this now

Every construction firm, from sole traders to tier‑one contractors, should treat this as a prompt to check five practical areas immediately.

• Cooperation and inspector engagement: Ensure every operative and manager knows how to respond to an inspector and what information can be provided. Non‑cooperation is not a tactic, it is a legal and reputational risk.
• Prohibition notices and cease work: A prohibition notice is a statutory instrument to protect people from imminent danger. Organisations must have a clear procedure that requires immediate cessation of the specified activity, prompt notification up the chain and documented remediation before resuming work.
• Competence and supervision: Verify that those carrying out and supervising high risk tasks — roofs, scaffolds, fragile surfaces — are competent, trained and assessed. Competence is not an abstract aspiration; it must be evidenced and revisited.
• Records and information management: Keep accessible records of risk assessments, method statements, training, toolbox talks and remedial actions. Being unable or unwilling to produce information to an inspector is a red flag for inadequate systems.
• Worker welfare and reporting culture: If the HSE initially received a concern, that indicates workers or others raised issues. Firms must encourage safe reporting without fear of reprisal and act visibly on issues raised.

Practical measures mapped to standards and governance

These actions are straightforward and map directly to established ISO and good governance practices. Start with a short internal audit and corrective plan covering the items above.

1. Implement or refresh an ISO 45001 aligned management system. ISO 45001 provides a framework for leadership, risk assessment, operational control and continual improvement that makes compliance with inspector requests and prohibition notices part of the business process rather than an ad hoc response. Synergos Consultancy provides a useful primer on ISO 45001 for construction operators: https://synergosconsultancy.co.uk/iso45001/.

2. Document competence and ensure pre‑work verification. Use defined competency matrices and retain evidence of training and assessment. Synergos’ Competent Person guidance can help clarify expectations: https://synergosconsultancy.co.uk/competent-person/.

3. Strengthen risk assessments and method statements. At minimum, update dynamic risk assessment practice for work at height, ensure control measures are in place and recorded, and provide written method statements to inspectors on request. See Synergos’ health and safety risk assessment resources: https://synergosconsultancy.co.uk/health-and-safety-risk-assessment/.

4. Formalise inspector engagement procedures. Draft a short, step‑by‑step protocol: who greets an inspector, who provides documents, how prohibition notices are recorded, how incidents are escalated and who communicates with clients and insurers. Practice it in toolbox talks so it becomes muscle memory.

5. Use audits and internal escalation to prevent court attendance failures. When enforcement is likely, ensure legal and operational leads are prepared to attend hearings or to supply ordered information. Management systems such as ISO 9001 help ensure records are retained and retrievable: https://synergosconsultancy.co.uk/iso9001/.

A short checklist for smaller contractors

• Can you produce risk assessments, method statements and training records within 24 hours?
• Do operatives know what a prohibition notice requires and who to notify internally?
• Is there a nominated person authorised to liaise with HSE inspectors?
• Are toolbox talks documented and dated?
• Have you rehearsed an inspector visit in the last 12 months?

Where ISO meets behaviour and culture

Standards do not stop inspectors knocking on doors, but they do change the odds. ISO 45001 embeds leadership responsibility for health and safety and creates predictable processes for risk control, information provision and continual improvement. Pairing ISO 45001 with practical SSIP accreditations and verified competent person schemes reduces the chance of the sort of breakdown we see in this case. Synergos’ support packages and training resources can help firms bridge the gap between paperwork and site behaviour: https://synergosconsultancy.co.uk/support-packages-and-services/ and https://synergosconsultancy.co.uk/training/.

And yes, there is an element of culture that standards alone cannot force. Firms must make cooperation with regulators a professional norm, not a theatrical decision made under pressure. That is about leadership, visible commitment to safety and treating records and inspector requests as core business activity rather than nuisances.

For the construction sector, the takeaway is clear: being able to prove you are managing risk is as important as managing the risk itself. The former affects your legal position, the latter affects whether anyone comes home at the end of the day.