The HSE have announced their intention to recover costs when there has been a breach of health and safety law which requires them to make a formal intervention. Under the proposals currently out for consultation, the HSE will charge for its time at a rate of £133 per hour, plus the costs of any specialists it considers necessary – all payable within 30 days.
Clearly, the total costs of a significant breach could be considerable, particularly if the breach is associated with an incident which led to serious injury – or worse.
The estimated average costs, which could be introduced as early as April 2012, to be charged to the duty holder by the HSE are:
Inspection which results in a letter - £750
Inspection which results in an Enforcement Notice - £1,500
Investigations - £750 to £00,000s
Given the financial pressure that all government departments are under, cost recovery by the HSE was always going to be a possibility. And it may not end there. The current proposals do not include cost recovery by Local Authorities carrying out equivalent work but we would not be surprised if this were included as a result of the current consultation, or at some point in the future.
And there are also suggestions that fire and rescue authorities in England and Wales could be handed the power to demand cash for attending false fire alarms.
We have always suggested that safety and profit are not mutually exclusive, and these latest proposals only confirm that view. As the HSE (and possibly Local Authorities) moves to a less pro-active, more punitive approach, it will become even more important that organisations manage health & safety effectively.
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