Coulter Hurst & Co - Insurance & Risk Management

Health and Safety Compliance Requirements

Non-compliance with Health and Safety Legislation is set to become more expensive from April 2012.

From that date, 'fee for intervention' arrangements are due to come into force whereby the HSE will be legally obliged to recover costs from those  who are found to be in breach of health and safety laws to the point where formal intervention is required.

Intervention fees are expected to be around £133 per hour but if non-HSE specialist services are required the actual costs of these services will be passed on directly to the duty holder. These costs then continue to accrue for any follow up activities that the HSE considers necessary.

Any organisations that fall foul of an HSE inspection could be facing significant costs. As this is a legal requirement on the HSE their inspectors will have no discretion.

Consultation Exercise

Although the imposition of Intervention fees across England, Scotland and Wales is already agreed by the government the exact systems whereby such fees will be imposed and collected are still a matter for consultation.

The consultation period runs from 22nd July to the 14th October 2011 and if you want to contribute your views you can find full details of the consultation and how to respond on the HSE Website at - http://consultations.hse.gov.uk/consult.ti/cd235/consultationHome.

The primary message is that non-compliance is becoming a more costly option.

The clear aim of the government is to encourage all organisations to be pro-active in ensuring they comply with health and safety legislation rather than waiting for an HSE inspector to call and identify problems before acting to correct them.

Your Company’s health and safety systems can benefit from being audited and there has never been a greater incentive for doing so than now.

At Coulter Hurst we can offer the full range of services that you need to support your Health and Safety systems and Environmental programme.

To discuss your health and safety or environment requirements, without any obligation on your part, please call Colin Hackett on 0151 255 1999 or complete the Enquiry Form on our website.