HSE set to charge oil and offshore industry for safety work
15 Jan 2000
The Health and Safety Executive has started charging the offshore, rail and gas transportation industries for assessing safety case regimes. The new regulations came into effect on 7 October, and will affect assessments, approvals, and inspections to ensure compliance.
The regulations are designed to allow the HSE to recoup the cost of time spent on safety activities. Assessment of safety cases, advice for submissions, applications for exemption from certain regulations, and inspections will all be charged under the new regime. However, the HSE insists that inspectors' responsibilities or methods will not change.
`The introduction of charging will not change our approach to regulation,' says HSE director general Jenny Bacon. `Industry will rightly expect us to demonstrate efficiency and to keep control of costs: in fact, I hope it may improve practices on both sides.' The HSE will publish guidelines for each industry in the coming weeks.
