Roofer Sentenced for Refusing to Co-operate with HSE

A Cornish roofer has been sentenced after refusing to co-operate with HSE. He failed to comply with requests for information from an inspector for Britain’s workplace regulator.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received a message about a concern after workers had been observed carrying out roof replacement work without any scaffolding being in place.

The regulator identified unsafe work on a domestic roof being worked on by Steven Hendry, 40, from Liskeard. The HSE inspector, Hatti Shipp, served a prohibition notice against him.

As a result, further information was requested from Steven Hendry, which he failed to comply with. The request was made under Section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work Act. HSE rules state that individuals and companies must co-operate with inspections and investigations.

Abusing and Ignoring

Steven Hendry, trading as Apex Roofing & Property Services at the time, was verbally abusive towards the inspector. As well as ignoring the request for further information, he went on to do further work without scaffolding, completely ignoring the prohibition notice. He then chose not to attend court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

HSE defines work-related violence as ‘any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work’. This can include verbal abuse or threats, including face to face, online and via telephone and physical attacks.

Roofer Sentenced

Steven Hendry, trading as Apex Roofing & Property Services of Marthus Court, Liskeard, pleaded guilty to section 20(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Section 20(c).

He was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £3,852 at Plymouth Magistrates Court on 25 November 2025.

The court also approved an application made by HSE for Steven Hendry to provide the information requested by them. He has until 1 March 2026 to do this.

Holding Accountable

HSE Inspector, Hatti Shipp, said: “Part of our role to prevent further risk of injury is to follow-up with companies or individuals who work unsafely, ensuring they are held accountable for improving conditions for workers and demonstrating to the HSE that they have done so.

“In this case, the defendant made it impossible for us to conduct this work and confirm the safety of those he was paying to undertake roof work.

“Not only did Hendry demonstrate a flagrant disregard for HSE and its powers, he was also verbally abusive to me in the process.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Daniel Pool and paralegal officer Gabrielle O’Sullivan.

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