HSE Fee for Intervention Scheme – Update, February 2017

The HSE Fee for Intervention Scheme has been in operation since October 2012. This scheme has been unpopular with many people in industry (especially those who have to pay it) and also with some enforcement officers. The current rate that the HSE charge is £129 per hour. If your business is inspected by the HSE and found to be in material breach of health and safety laws, then you may end up with an FFI invoice.

HSE Fee for Intervention Scheme – what is a Material Breach

A material breach is when, in the opinion of the HSE inspector, there is or has been a contravention of health and safety law that requires them to issue a notice in writing of that opinion to the duty holder. Written notification from an HSE inspector may be by a notification of contravention, an improvement or prohibition notice, or a prosecution and must include the following information:

• the law that the inspector’s opinion relates to;
• the reasons for their opinion; and
• notification that a fee is payable to HSE.

Examples of material breaches include (but are not limited to) things such as:

• Allowing dangerous working practices which risk the health and well-being of your staff
• Not having suitable and sufficient health and safety training and documentation
• Exposure to hazardous materials
• Removing or not fitting safety guards to dangerous moving parts of a machine
• and much more …

It is understood that the HSE invoiced businesses for £15 Million during the 2015/2016 period. Despite this, the HSE is still failing to recover all of its costs.

What does the HSE Fee for Intervention Scheme mean to you?

If you receive a visit from the HSE and they are not satisfied with the way that H&S is being managed, then they will tell you what they have found. They will leave you with a notice of some form and will advise you that yo will be receiving an invoice for their time – an invoice you will have to pay. This could be a few hundred pounds or may be several thousand pounds, depending on how much time they spend on the matter. You may still be issued with an Improvement Notice, a Prohibition Notice, or even Prosecuted.