HSE inspectors to become industry 'traffic wardens'?

London — The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is proposing to charge industry for any ‘material breach’ found by its inspectors and for any ‘formal intervention’ required. The scheme, called Fees for Intervention, is part of HSE’s efforts to claw back revenues lost to a 35% reduction in Government funding by 2014.  

Under the proposals, companies would be charged at a rate of £1000 a day, though HSE hasn’t specified what exactly is meant by ‘material breach’ or a ‘formal intervention’.

There is no indication as to how these rates are calculated — for example, whether the salary level involved; the basis for overhead recovery; or what consumables are included. The charges could also be higher if external consultants are employed.

The scheme, clearly, has major cost implications for process plant operators, but more significant could be the impact on safety across the process industries.

The HSE enforces national and EU regulations designed to prevent industrial accidents, and has the power to impose heavy fines and prison sentences on guilty operators. Its more fundamental role, though. is to drive best practice and raise standards in the increasingly complex field of industrial safety.

The concern now is that the HSE will now move away from supporting companies: its inspectors becoming more like traffic wardens looking for opportunities to fine, rather than guiding longer-term safety improvements.

As the Chemical Business Association has warned (read PE report), “Fee for Intervention’ could fundamentally change industry’s perception of HSE: from a regulator respected for its impartiality to an organisation focused on the generation of additional revenue.”