» Back to listing HSE fees for intervention - update

The HSE has just completed a two-week shadowing initiative to train inspectors in its new cost-recovery scheme, which begins next month.

it has also been revealed that the term “material breach” – which will be eligible for a fee once rectified to the HSE’s satisfaction –  has been changed to the term “contravention”.

Companies found to be at fault of a contravention will be charged at £124 per hour. The shadowing scheme, which ended recently, has therefore focused, in part, on training inspectors to accurately record the time they spend on interventions, so that a judgement over any subsequent fee can be accurately made.

Additionally the HSE’s original plans to set up systems so that such FFI decisions can be challenged have changed. The Executive initially wanted to introduce a challenge process involving three stages, all of which would have been overseen by someone internal at the HSE. However, the Executive has now decided “not to be judge and jury”, so the third stage will involve the decision and the fee being scrutinised by a panel, including a front-line inspector, someone from the regulator’s policy and procurement department, and an independent individual.

Questions have also been raised about how the cost-recovery scheme is going to work alongside enforcement notices and prosecutions. Lawyers are concerned about invoice timing. It would not be satifactory if a company that was facing possible prosecution had already admitted and repaid a fee for an HSE intervention. It is generally considered that invoices should not be sent until after all enforcement action has been completed.

There is a pyramid of health and safety enforcement. With around 1000 prosecutions a year and 15,000 enforcement notices a year, the number of formal FFI letters sent to duty-holders can therefore be expected to be even higher.