HSE Increases FFI Charges

The Health and Safety Executive have announced that their rate for their cost recovery scheme (Fee for Intervention, or FFI) has increased from £129 to £154 per hour, a rise of almost 20%. The scheme, which was introduced in October 2012, is designed to remove the HSE’s regulatory financial burden from the taxpayer and place it on those in the business sector, who, in the HSE’s opinion, fail to comply with Health and Safety legislation.

In 2018/2019, HSE reported a loss of £1.9m for the running of the FFI scheme, with operating costs running at around £17m and revenue from the scheme running at £15m and it is understood that the rise is intended to offset HSE’s losses.

As a consequence of the rise, businesses who are found to be in material breach of Health and Safety legislation, will find that the costs of failing to comply will increase further. (A material breach is defined by HSE as “something that the HSE Inspector considers serious enough that they need to formally write to the business, requesting that action be taken”)

Speaking of the rise, Dave Randles CMIOSH, Simian’s Operations Director, said:

“It is often said that good Health and Safety is good business and undertaking work activity in a safe manner actually provides a net cost benefit. The latest increase means that the cost of FFI has risen by almost 25% since it was first introduced in 2012.

 Many take the view that the burden of regulatory enforcement should be borne by those that choose not to adhere to the minimum standards laid out in the statute books and the rise will only serve to sharpen focus on compliance for health and safety matters.

 It is important that recipients of an HSE NoC (Notice of Contravention) respond appropriately and in a timely manner and we would strongly advise any SIMIAN clients that find themselves in this position to contact us for advice, as a matter of urgency.

 Of course, the best way of avoiding FFI is to meet workplace statutory obligations and we are happy to advise clients what this level of compliance looks like at an operational level for scaffolding activity.”

SIMIAN clients requiring additional information on the Fee for Intervention scheme are free to contact us for advice on 0345 602 2418.