So what happens when the inspector calls?
The HSE Inspector!!
Businesses found to be in material breach of health and safety law will be charged this hourly rate.
HSE’s hourly recovery rate under Fee for Intervention in 2022/23 has been increased from £160 to £163.
This is an inflationary increase to make sure we continue to recover the full cost of any relevant activity. It is consistent with our strategy of regularly updating rates to maintain our regulatory functions.
If we visit your workplace and find that you are in material breach of health and safety law, you will have to pay for the time it takes us to identify what is wrong and to help you put things right. This is called a fee for intervention (FFI).
If you don’t break the law, you won’t pay anything.
Duty holders who comply with the law, or where there is no material breach, will not be charged FFI for any work that HSE does with them.
Who FFI applies to:
It applies to duty holders where HSE is the enforcing authority. This will include:
- employers
- self-employed who put others at risk
- public and limited companies
- general, limited and limited liability partnerships
- crown and public bodies
What the law says
The Health and Safety say that a fee is payable to HSE if:
- a person is contravening or has contravened health and safety laws; and
- an inspector is of the opinion that the person is or has done so, and notifies the person in writing of that opinion.
What is a material breach?
A material breach is something which an inspector considers serious enough that they need to formally write to the business requiring action to be taken to deal with the material breach. If the inspector gives you a notification of contravention (NoC) after their visit, you’ll have to pay a fee.
The NoC must include:
- the law that the inspector considers has been broken
- the reason(s) for their opinion
- notification that a fee is payable to HSE
Where an inspector simply gives you advice, either verbal or written, you won’t have to pay anything for this advice.
How much it costs
It currently costs £163 an hour. The fee will include the costs covering the time of the entire original visit. The total amount recovered will be based on the amount of time it takes HSE to identify the breach and help you put things right (including associated office work), multiplied by the hourly rate.
Your fee may include time:
- at your business or workplace
- preparing reports
- getting specialist advice
- talking to you after the visit
- talking to your workers
The fee can vary depending on:
- how long the original visit was
- the time spent helping you put things right
- the time it took to investigate your case
- any time we spend on taking action against you
So to avoid these huge hourly costs – contact us today on 07770 302504 or email joanne@chestnutassociates.co.uk and we can support you on your Health & Safety Compliant journey!!
