Corporate report

HSE KPIs report for 2025 to 2026

Published 30 January 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-executive-key-performance-indicators-report/hse-kpis-report-for-2025-to-2026

1. Quarterly reporting for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026

Effective performance management comes from a clear vision of the impact we want to have and how we will achieve it.

For HSE, performance management is about making the best use of our people and resources to help us protect people and places. It involves taking positive action to make outcomes better than they would otherwise be and providing a high-quality service to those we regulate.

This report details our performance for each quarter against a range of our agreed key performance indicators (KPIs) for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Below you will find our KPIs are grouped by strategic objective; more information on our historic performance can be found in our Annual Report and Accounts on www.hse.gov.uk.

Through our work on developing operational performance measures, we ensure that our regulatory activities are carried out efficiently and in a timely manner through refreshed processes and a renewed focus on timely, robust decision-making. This will help us maximise the use of our resources and support and ensure they remain focused on the highest priority areas. The performance measures will better inform where regulatory time is being spent and the timeliness of decisions, further improving the quality and service for our stakeholders.

2. Ratings

Each KPI is rated ‘Red’, ‘Amber’ or ‘Green’. The ratings are:

  • Green: on track, the KPI is at or exceeding expected performance
  • Amber: off track, but between 95% and 100% of expected performance
  • Red: off track, below 95% of expected performance

We work with our partners in business and government to deliver shared objectives in preventing ill health at work, and particularly in relation to work-related stress.

We track our overall performance on inspection delivery against our annual performance target of 14,000. These inspections are delivered across a range of industrial sectors, and within this delivery envelope we will target areas of particular concern or where we believe we can have the greatest impact.

Key performance indicator Target Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q4 Rating
Deliver 14,000 proactive inspections 14,000 inspections in-year, including proactive inspections [footnote 1] Delivered 3,082 inspections vs. 3,019 profiled (102%) Delivered 3,516 inspections in quarter vs. 3,241 profiled (108%)

Delivered 6,598 inspections YTD vs. 6,260 profiled (105%) YTD		 Delivered 3,018 inspections in quarter vs. 3,939 profiled (77%)

Delivered 9,616 inspections YTD vs. 10,199 profiled (94%) YTD		   Amber
Inspections on broad health priorities, covering topics such as noise-induced hearing loss; musculoskeletal disorders; health surveillance; asbestos duty to manage; hazardous dusts (including silica and wood dust) 8,000 [footnote 2] Delivered 2,573 inspections vs. 2,637 profiled (98%) Delivered 2,875 inspections in quarter vs. 2,722 profiled (106%)

Delivered 5,448 inspections YTD vs. 5,359 profiled (102%) YTD		 Delivered 2,230 inspections in quarter vs. 2,814 profiled (79%)

Delivered 7,678 inspections YTD vs. 8,173 profiled (94%) YTD		   Amber
Complete proposal for consultation about targeted reform of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations By the end of 2025/26 On track On track Delivered Delivered Green

4. Objective: increase and maintain trust to ensure people feel safe where they live, where they work, and in their environment

We work to achieve the right regulatory balance between supporting safe business practices and protecting workers. We protect people and their environment by ensuring chemicals are used effectively and safely, granting permission for use only where we are sufficiently reassured by those seeking our consent. We rigorously assess and review those applications for both permissioning and authorisation activities.

Key performance indicator Target Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Rating
Deliver planned permissions for pesticides [footnote 3] 720 Delivered 170 permissions vs. 180 profiled (94%) Delivered 419 permissions YTD vs. 360 profiled (116%) Delivered 623 permissions YTD vs. 540 profiled (115%)   Green
Deliver planned permissions for biocides [footnote 3] 115 Delivered 53 permissions vs. 30 profiled (177%) Delivered 125 permissions YTD vs. 60 profiled (208%) Delivered 196 permissions YTD vs. 90 profiled (218%)   Green
Deliver authorisation opinions under UK REACH 20 Delivered 7 opinions vs. 3 profiled (233%) Delivered 15 opinions YTD vs. 11 profiled (136%) Delivered 18 opinions YTD vs. 17 profiled (106%)   Green
Deliver a programme of domestic gas safety engineer competence checks through our commercial partner 48,000 Delivered 11,187 competence checks vs. 11,184 profiled (100%) Delivered 24,295 competence checks YTD vs. 23,015 profiled (106%) Delivered 36,267 competence checks YTD vs. 35,366 profiled (103%)   Green

5. Objective: enable industry to innovate safely to prevent major incidents, supporting the move towards net zero

Throughout the year we actively worked with other government departments, businesses and stakeholders on a wide variety of net zero, science and research programmes and projects. We deliver work to reduce our own carbon footprint.

Key performance indicator Target Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Rating
Provide health and safety expertise to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Clean Heat Programme completing the comprehensive formal assessment By the end of Q3 On track Delivered Delivered Delivered Green
Launch public consultation on legislation to regulate offshore hydrogen production and carbon capture and storage By the end of Q1 Delivered Delivered Delivered Delivered Green
Refresh HSE’s Sustainability Strategy By the end of Q2 On track Delivered Delivered Delivered Green
Achieve our Greening Government Commitments against agreed baseline By year end On track On track On track   Green

6. Objective: maintain Great Britain’s record as one of the safest countries to work in

These KPIs represent just part of our major hazards regulatory activity. Using a combination of case management records, the offshore portal and firsthand inspection we robustly review and assess safety reports to ensure worker safety. Where interventions have occurred, we complete follow-up activity to ensure appropriate action has been taken. We also ensure we investigate swiftly to hold duty holders to account where serious accidents have occurred, to identify what went wrong and help duty holders understand what they must do to put it right.

Key performance indicator Target Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Rating
Control of Major Accident Hazards  (COMAH) and Offshore and Gas Safety Permissioning safety report assessments completed within agreed timescales 75% Delivered 46 assessments on time vs. 52 due (88%) Delivered 93 assessments on time YTD vs. 110 due (85%) Delivered 132 assessments on time YTD vs. 153 due (86%)   Green
Land use planning applications processed via Web App to published timescales (21 days) 95% 100% 100% 100%   Green
Complete fatal investigations within 12 months of primacy 80% Completed 23 investigations on time vs. 30 due (77%) Completed 45 investigations on time YTD vs. 57 due (79%) Completed 64 investigations on time YTD vs. 78 due (82%)   Green
Complete of non-fatal investigations within 12 months of incident date 90% Completed 1,138 investigations on time vs. 1,206 due (94%) Completed 2,382 investigations on time YTD vs. 2,518 due (95%) Completed 3,718 investigations on time YTD vs. 3,903 due (95%)   Green

7. Objective: ensure HSE is a great place to work, and we attract and retain exceptional people

We continue to make HSE an excellent place to work, by building a more diverse and inclusive workplace, where everyone feels valued and is treated with dignity and respect.

Key performance indicator Target Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Rating
Average time taken to recruit new colleagues 15 weeks or fewer 15.3 weeks 14.9 weeks 15.4 weeks   Amber
Percentage of successful recruitment campaigns 80% or greater 82% 83% 88%   Green
Ensure average working days lost does not exceed 6.5 days per FTE 6.5 days or less lost (per FTE) 7.4 days 7.1 days 7.4 days   Red
Achieve an engagement index of 60% (taken from the annual People Survey results) 60% n/a n/a 60%   Green

8. Enabling activities and customer service

To maximise our potential to affect positive change in supporting the delivery of our strategic objectives, we will use our resources efficiently and effectively, while investing in capability and supporting infrastructure as key enabling activities. The majority of our enabling activity is measured via a series of initiatives, projects or endeavours that we are delivering through the year. The full summary of our performance in this space will be available in our Annual Report and Accounts.

Key performance indicator Target Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Rating
Engage 25,000 delegates through training and events 25,00 Engaged 4,937 delegates vs. 5,294 profiled (93%) Engaged 12,393 delegates YTD vs. 11,227 profiled (110%) Engaged 22,481 delegates YTD vs. 18,639 profiled (121%)   Green
Usefulness rating of our information and guidance on hse.gov.uk 70% (average) 78% 78% 78%   Green
Percentage of Freedom of Information requests responded to within deadlines 90% or greater Responded to 898 requests within deadline vs. 1,014 due (89%) Responded to 1,629 requests within deadline YTD vs. 1,950 due (84%) Responded to 2,451 requests within deadline YTD vs. 2,936 due (83%)   Amber
Percentage of calls answered in the contact centre 95% Answered 7,876 calls vs. 8,153 received (97%) Answered 15,645 calls YTD vs. 16,304 received (96%) Answered 23,771 calls YTD vs. 24,336 received (98%)   Green
Percentage of Tier 1 complaints responded to within 15 working days of receipt 80% Responded to 42 complaints within deadline vs. 71 received (59%) Responded to 91 complaints within deadline YTD vs. 154 received (59%) Responded to 145 complaints within deadline YTD vs. 230 received (63%)   Red
Duty holder survey, percentage of respondents saying the inspection was conducted in an efficient and effective manner and the amount of time taken was appropriate 80% or greater 97% 97% 100%   Green
Duty holder survey, percentage of respondents saying the inspector provided practical advice that will improve health and safety at their workplace 80% or greater 91% 91% 96%   Green

9. Further information

There is more information about our mission, priorities and performance on our website, including our strategy, annual report and accounts, and business plan.

  1. In addition to proactive sector inspections we also undertake a planned programme of onshore and offshore major hazard inspections within Chemicals, Explosives and Microbiological Hazards Division (CEMHD) and Energy Division (ED). ↩

  2. Inspections of broad health priorities are a sub-set of the 14000 proactive inspections above, targeted specifically at our strategic objective of reducing work related ill health ↩

  3. Planned permissions refers to the overall mix of applications that are either due and received in year or we are dealing with that year that we know we have to process ↩ ↩2

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