HSE Publish Guidance On The Application Of Fee For Intervention (FFI)

The Health and Safety Executive have published guidance on how they will be utilising their new charging system for intervention in workplaces that do not abide by current health and safety legislation.

As Unionsafety readers will know, the new charging structure is due to be launched by the HSE on 1st October 2012

The 36 page document details just how the new charging regime will work:

'This guidance provides information in advance of the Regulations coming into effect to help businesses and organisations to understand what FFI means for them and how it fits with HSE’s existing approach to enforcement. It sets out the general principles and approach of the FFI scheme.

This guidance includes examples of material breaches but does not cover every scenario where FFI might apply. Inspectors will apply this guidance and their enforcement decisions will be made in accordance with the principles of HSE’s existing enforcement decision making frameworks – the Enforcement Management Model (EMM) and the Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS). It explains the process for handling queries and disputed invoices. The procedures for queries and disputes for FFI referred to in this guidance will be published on the HSE website in advance of the Regulations coming into effect.'

The idea of charging businesses that fail to comply with health and safety law, was part of the Tory-led Coalition's commitment given to business to tackle the so-called 'health and safety culture' that David Cameron claims, without any evidence, costs British industry and businesses billions of pounds as a result of over complicated and dificult to understand legislation.

Many see it as a purely money-driven cynical attempt to appear to be serious about making businesses that do not comply with health and safety laws; pay for the priviledge of doing so. Yet, at the same time, his minister Chris Grayling, has gone about slashing the HSE budget, demanded it re-assess workplaces and place whole industries and business activities within a 'low-risk' categrory, meaning that such workplaces will no longer be inspected by the HSE.

This will result in more accidents, more deaths and more workers ending up on benefit due to being incapacitated by workplace injuries either temporrarily or permanently. Of course, this augors well for the HSE, as more businesses that do not comply with H&S laws which then result in higher incidents they have to investigate; the greater the financial reward!

Meanwhile, Unions are ensuring their safety reps afre up to date on this new HSE charging regime, as can be seen by the CWU's Dave Joyce's latest letter to branches which also oincludes a copy of the document.

In LTB644/12 Dave quotes from the HSE document:

'The Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, 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. The HSE have defined “material breach” as: “When in the opinion of the HSE inspector, there has been a contravention of health and safety law that is serious enough to require them to notify the person in material breach of that opinion in writing.”The proposed Fee for Intervention hourly rate for 2012/13 is £124.'

Fee for Intervention (FFI) will come into effect on 1 October 2012, subject to Parliamentary approval of the proposed Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012. These Regulations 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.

The full document, Guidance On The Application Of Fee For Intervention (FFI); can be downloaded from the E-Library Database by using the category 'Health & Safety Legislation'.

Source: HSE / CWU

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