GREAT BRITAIN, UNITED KINGDOM — HSE published its annual report and accounts for 2025–26 on 4 November 2026. The newly released account covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026; it is a retrospective report, rather than a new set of workplace rules.
Occupational health and assurance feature in the regulator’s account
The executive summary describes increased proactive interventions addressing work-related health risks, including on significant infrastructure projects. For major-hazard industries, HSE highlights the effectiveness of dutyholders’ safety-management-system auditing and assurance, with plans to extend that learning to onshore health risks.
It also describes safety assessments supporting carbon capture and floating wind, alongside continuing regulation of established energy industries. These statements report the regulator’s own account of its work, not an independent evaluation of workplace outcomes.
Financial pressures accompany the performance review
The summary reports total expenditure of £345 million and income of £155 million. It identifies efficiency demands, inflation and financial separation from the Building Safety Regulator as pressures. The reporting-year figures include BSR costs until 26 January 2026 and should not be read as spending solely on occupational-safety inspection.
HSE Blog Analysis
For employers, the useful question raised by assurance is how management knows that a control remains effective after an audit closes. A completed inspection or signed procedure can establish that a check happened; it may provide less evidence about whether a barrier still functions during a difficult maintenance job or an unusual operating condition.
A practical review can connect audit actions to observable evidence: which control was tested, what operating conditions were considered and who confirmed that the remedy works. That approach also helps keep occupational-health controls visible when the harm develops slowly. Our discussion of testing risk assessments against actual work provides related context.
Sources and verification
The official publication record and executive summary both give 4 November 2026 as publication date. They are two pages from one issuing organisation, HSE; the preferred five-to-six independent sources were not available. An older HSE landing page still showed the previous report and was not used to date this release. The image is conceptual, not an official HSE graphic.
Source
Health and Safety Executivegov.uk
