The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) inspectors investigate working practices, incidents and complaints and from 31 October 2012, if the inspector finds you in material breach of the law you will be required to pay the new Fees for Intervention.
The new charge is being introduced on the grounds that it is unreasonable for the public coffers to bear the cost of investigations into those breaking health and safety laws.
These fees, charged at £124.00 per hour, will be in respect of time spent;
carrying out visits (including all the time on site during which the material breach was identified);
writing notifications of contravention, improvement or prohibition notices, and reports;
taking statements; and
getting specialist support for complex issues.
Fees for Intervention will apply to all business and organisations inspected by the HSE with a few limited exceptions;
self-employed people who don’t put people at risk by their work;
those who are already paying fees to HSE for the work through other arrangements; and
those who deliberately work with certain biological agents.
Remember you will only be liable for the fee if you are found to have committed a material breach of the law, a material breach is where the inspector finds that you have broken a health and safety law and it is serious enough for them to notify you in writing, whether this takes the form of a notification of contravention, an improvement or prohibition notice, or a prosecution.
More detailed information on the process and the appeals process may be found on the HSE’s dedicated Fees for Intervention we pages.