HSE has hiked up its Fee for Intervention (FFI) costs, meaning businesses that break health and safety laws will now be charged £154 per hour for inspectors to investigate failures.
News
HSE increases Fee For Intervention (FFI) charges by almost 20 per cent
By
on 01 May 2019
A spokesperson from HSE confirmed the cost has gone up from £129 per hour with effect from 6 April. They said: "This means that businesses that are found to be in material breach of health and safety law will be charged at this new rate. As now, those businesses that meet their legal requirements will not pay anything for HSE’s regulatory activity.”
FFI was introduced to shift the cost of regulating workplace health and safety from the taxpayer onto businesses. But recently FFI has been costing HSE more than it recovers in income from it. Last year HSE posted a loss of £1.9m from running FFI.
The spokesperson continued: “HSE must set the FFI rate with the aim of recovering its full cost and in recent years it has operated at a deficit (i.e. cost more than recovered in income). A combination of this and cumulative inflationary pressures support the increased hourly rate.”
Writing on the website Out-law.com, Natalie Walker of Pinsent Masons, said: “The increase in the recovery rate by almost 20 per cent means that non-compliance now comes with more significant repercussions for companies”.
“This emphasises the importance of organisations being proactive in their approach to safety and prioritising health and safety compliance.”
Fee for intervention was introduced in October 2012 and required employers who are guilty of a material breach of health and safety law to pay for HSE's time, including work to identify the breach, helping companies to correct failings, investigating and taking enforcement action.
More on FFI on HSE's website here
NEWS
Work-related ill health improved slightly in 2023/24 but deaths and injuries rose, HSE data shows
By Kerry Reals on 20 November 2024
The number of people in Great Britain who reported suffering work-related ill health fell slightly in 2023/24, compared with the previous year, but work-related fatalities and non-fatal injuries were both up, according to the latest annual statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
‘Cut the theatrics’ and focus on solutions, UN climate chief urges COP29 delegates
By Kerry Reals on 19 November 2024
It is time to end the “brinkmanship” and “get down to the real business” of reaching a global agreement on financial support to help developing countries cut emissions and cope with the effects of climate change, the United Nations’ climate chief told negotiators in Azerbaijan as the COP29 summit entered its final week.
Accidental deaths in UK reach all-time high: RoSPA
By Kerry Reals on 18 November 2024
People in the UK are “substantially” more likely to have a serious accident today than they were 20 years ago and accidental deaths have reached an all-time high, according to a new report from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).