Refusing Unsafe Work in England, Wales and Scotland

Who this guide is for

Employees and workers in England, Wales or Scotland who think their work is unsafe and want to know whether they can refuse to do it, leave, or report it, and anyone treated worse or dismissed because they did.

What this guide does not cover

• Work in Northern Ireland: see the Northern Ireland guide.
• Compensation for an injury at work. That is a personal injury claim in the civil courts, not the employment tribunal. This guide does not cover it: ask a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
• Stress at work: see our mental health at work guide. Adjustments for a disability: see our reasonable adjustments guide.
• What an employer must do to run a safe workplace, such as risk assessments, first aid and fire safety: see our employer obligations guide.
• Risks at work while pregnant or after giving birth, whether you must be paid while you stay away from danger, how much compensation a tribunal can award, and interim relief. This guide does not cover these: ask Acas.
• Tribunal time limits in detail: see our tribunal deadline guide.
• The detailed rules for particular industries and hazards, such as farm machinery, chemicals, noise or dust. This guide does not cover them: ask HSE.

What the rules depend on

1. Did you reasonably believe the danger was serious and imminent? If yes, the right to leave or refuse to return can apply. If not, it does not, but you can still raise the concern and report it.
2. Could you reasonably have been expected to avoid the danger? The right to leave or refuse to return applies only where you could not.
3. Are you an employee or a worker? Both are protected from detriment for leaving, refusing to return or taking steps to protect themselves or others. Only employees can claim unfair dismissal.
4. What has happened, and when? Nothing yet, treated worse, or dismissed. The date of the act starts the tribunal time limit.

"Can I refuse to do this job?"

You have the right not to be subjected to any detriment by your employer because, in circumstances of danger which you reasonably believed to be serious and imminent and which you could not reasonably have been expected to avert, you left (or proposed to leave) your place of work or any dangerous part of it, or, while the danger persisted, refused to return to it.

You are also protected if, in circumstances of danger which you reasonably believed to be serious and imminent, you took (or proposed to take) appropriate steps to protect yourself or other people from the danger. Whether the steps were appropriate is judged by all the circumstances, including what you knew and the facilities and advice available to you at the time.

This does not protect you if your employer shows that the steps you took were so negligent that a reasonable employer might have treated you as your employer did.

These rights have covered workers, not only employees, since 31 May 2021.

As an employee, you must also take reasonable care for your own health and safety and that of other people affected by what you do at work, and cooperate with your employer on health and safety.

"I've been punished for refusing"

Detriment means being treated worse than before, or having your situation made worse, because of what you did. You can make a claim to an employment tribunal.

If you are a worker and not an employee, and your contract is ended for this reason, that can be a detriment claim.

"I've been sacked for refusing unsafe work"

If you are an employee and you were dismissed for leaving, refusing to return, or taking steps to protect yourself or others in circumstances of serious and imminent danger, it is automatically unfair dismissal. Employees are protected from automatically unfair dismissal from the first day they start a job.

Workers who are not employees cannot claim unfair dismissal.

"How do I report it?"

First raise your concern with your employer, manager or supervisor, or your workplace safety representative if there is one.

If you have raised it and believe your employer has not taken appropriate action, you can raise it with them again or contact HSE. You can speak to HSE confidentially and you do not have to give your name.

Which body deals with it depends on the workplace. HSE deals with places such as factories, farms, building sites, schools and hospitals. Your local council deals with places such as offices, shops, hotels and restaurants.

If you are an employee, you are protected from detriment and dismissal for bringing health and safety concerns to your employer's attention by reasonable means. This applies where there was no safety representative or safety committee, or it was not reasonably practicable to raise them that way.

If you are a worker and not an employee, reporting a danger to health or safety can be whistleblowing: see our whistleblowing guide.

"It's too hot" or "it's too cold"

During working hours the temperature in all indoor workplaces must be reasonable. There is no law for a minimum or maximum working temperature.

Guidance suggests a minimum of 16°C, or 13°C if much of the work involves rigorous physical effort. There is no guidance for a maximum. Talk to your employer if the temperature is not comfortable.

Whether you can leave because of the temperature depends on the serious and imminent danger test above.

"Do I have to pay for my safety equipment?"

No. Your employer must not charge employees for anything it does or provides to meet a specific legal health and safety requirement.

"I've had an accident at work"

Your employer, as the "responsible person", must report certain work-related injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

If you are the injured person, you should not make that report yourself unless you are self-employed. You can tell HSE about a work-related accident or an ongoing risk by raising a concern.

"I'm a health and safety representative"

If you are an employee, the law protects you from being treated worse, and from being dismissed, for doing health and safety activities your employer gave you to do. It also protects your work as a health and safety representative or safety committee member, if you were appointed under the law or your employer accepts you in that role. This protection is for employees only. A worker who is not an employee is still protected for leaving, or refusing to go back to, serious and imminent danger. Reporting a danger can also be whistleblowing.

A health and safety representative who claims unfair dismissal may also be able to claim interim relief. It has a very short time limit: ask Acas straight away.

If a recognised trade union appointed you as its safety representative, your employer must let you take the time off with pay during working hours that you need to carry out your functions. It must also let you go on training in those functions that is reasonable in all the circumstances (Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, regulation 4(2)). If your employer refuses, you can complain to an employment tribunal. This guide does not cover the time limit for that complaint: ask Acas.

"I work on a building site or in another high-risk job"

Everything in this guide applies on a building site too: the serious and imminent danger test, the protection from being punished or sacked, and reporting to HSE.

On a building site there are extra rules (Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015):

• Site induction: you must be given a suitable site induction. The principal contractor running the site must make sure one is given. If it has not, the contractor you work for must give it (regulations 13(4)(a) and 15(9)(a)).
• Information: the contractor you work for must tell you what to do if there is serious and imminent danger, and about the risks to your health and safety on the site, including risks from other contractors’ work (regulation 15(9)).
• Training and supervision: you must not be put to work on the site unless you have, or are getting, the skills, knowledge, training and experience the work needs. You must be given appropriate supervision and instructions (regulation 15(7) and (8)).
• Welfare facilities: the site must have toilets you can easily get to, washing facilities with hot and cold (or warm) water, soap and towels (or another way to dry), drinking water, and a rest area with tables and seats with backs where you can prepare and eat meals and boil water. Changing rooms and lockers are needed where you have to wear special clothing for the work and, for health or privacy reasons, cannot be expected to change somewhere else (Schedule 2). The principal contractor must provide these throughout the job. The contractor you work for must make sure of them so far as reasonably practicable (regulations 13(4)(c) and 15(11)).
• Weather and temperature: indoors, the temperature must be kept reasonable, so far as reasonably practicable. Outdoors, where it is needed for your health or safety, the site must be arranged to protect you from bad weather, so far as reasonably practicable, taking account of any protective clothing or equipment you were given (regulation 34).

Working at height (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 6): your employer must not have you work at height if the job can reasonably be done safely another way. If you do work at height, your employer must take suitable and sufficient steps to stop anyone falling a distance that could cause injury, so far as reasonably practicable. It must first use a safe existing place of work, or a safe existing way to get to it. If that is not reasonably practicable, it must provide equipment that prevents a fall. If a risk of falling is still left, your employer must also provide equipment that cuts the distance and the harm of a fall, and extra training or instruction.

Asbestos: HSE says your employer must always find out whether asbestos is likely to be disturbed by your work before you start. If you think you have found asbestos, stop work and ask your employer or the building owner whether there is asbestos in the building. If you have disturbed it, you must stop work immediately.

HSE says workers on a site should follow the site rules and report any risks they find to whoever controls the work on the site.

In any job, high-risk or not: if you are an employee, your employer must give you information you can understand on the risks to your health and safety that its risk assessment found. It must also tell you what it is doing to protect you (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 10). It must give you health and safety training when you start, and again when you face new or bigger risks, for example from new equipment, new technology, a new way of working, or a move to different work or new responsibilities. The training must take place during working hours (regulation 13).

"What can I do?"

Before you can make most employment tribunal claims, you must notify Acas to start early conciliation. It is free. Your time limit is paused while conciliation runs, but only if you notify Acas within your time limit.

Why the employer acted matters

Being treated badly after a health and safety issue is not enough on its own. The health and safety reason (for example raising a concern, or leaving or refusing to return because of serious and imminent danger) must be why the employer did it. For bad treatment short of dismissal, it is for the employer to show why it acted. For an employee's dismissal, it must be the reason, or the main reason if there was more than one.

If you do not have enough service for an ordinary unfair dismissal claim, it is for you to show the health and safety reason was the main reason for the dismissal.

Deadlines you must meet

• Most tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal: 3 months less 1 day from the act you are complaining about, or 6 months less 1 day where that act (or the last act in a series) happened on or after 1 October 2026.
• Notify Acas within your time limit, so that the clock is paused.
• Your exact date depends on your facts: see our tribunal deadline guide.

Traps

• The right to leave or refuse to return is about danger you reasonably believe is serious and imminent. For other safety worries, raise them and report them.
• Workers are protected from detriment as well as employees. Only employees can claim unfair dismissal.
• The 16°C and 13°C figures are guidance, not a legal limit. There is no maximum.
• An injured worker does not make the RIDDOR report. The employer does.
• The tribunal time limit does not apply to a personal injury claim.
• Do not use Northern Ireland rules here.