HSE Cost Recovery Scheme
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Cost Recovery Scheme, “Fee for Intervention” (FFI), will start on 1 October 2012; subject to Parliamentary approval of the proposed Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012. The HSE Cost Recovery Scheme will put a duty on HSE to recover its costs for carrying out its regulatory functions from those found to be in material breach of health and safety law.
HSE and the government believe it is right that businesses and organisations that break health and safety laws should pay for HSE’s time in putting matters right, investigating and taking enforcement action. Without FFI, this is paid for from the public purse.
FFI recovers costs from those who break health and safety laws for the time and effort HSE spends helping to put matters right such as, investigating and taking enforcement action.
The fee payable by dutyholders found to be in material breach of the law is £124 per hour; except where other involvement such as with the “Health and Safety Laboratory” (HSL) or third-party involvement is required where the actual costs of the work undertaken by these parties will be recovered.
FFI is intended to act as an encouragement to businesses and organisations to comply in the first place or put matters right quickly when they don’t. It will also discourage those who undercut their competitors by not complying with the law and putting people at risk.
The HSE Board recommended the introduction of FFI to ministers in December 2011. HSE has completed a successful test run of the scheme in preparation for its start in October 2012.
Law-abiding businesses will be free from costs and should not pay a fee.