Analysis of the HSE’s latest figures on Fees for Intervention has shown that the construction industry collectively had to pay £2,979,581 in FFI invoices in the most recent 12-month period compared to £2,400,713 in the preceding 12 months – an increase of around 25%.
The HSE updates its figures on FFI invoices every two months, with a three-month time lag, starting from the implementation date in October 2012.
FFI notices are issued where HSE inspectors find a “material breach” of health and safety legislation, along with an invoice. This is based on the amount of time it takes HSE to identify and conclude its regulatory action, including associated office work, at an hourly rate of £124.
In April it published the figures for December 2014 and January 2015: Construction Manager has therefore looked at the totals for February 2013 to January 2014, and February 2014 to January 2015.
Comparing those two periods, the average FFI invoice in the sector also rose considerably, from £349 in the 12 months to January 2014, to £490 in the 12 months to January 2015.
“I think knowing why the [total level of] fees has increased is important too. Are there more inspectors? Has a booming UK construction industry led to more H&S failures? Or are inspectors concentrating more on the construction industry?”
Alex Green, handshq.com
But construction businesses had to foot less of a bill than the overall pan-industry invoice average, which weighed in at £503 in 2013 compared to £603 in 2014.
As well as the construction industry, the figures cover agriculture, extractive utilities, manufacturing, services and waste/waste management.
The HSE also offers a regional breakdown of the figures, but there is no breakdown according to the size or type of construction companies that found themselves in “material breach”.
However, Alex Green, of online health and safety consultancy www.handshq.com, argued that it would be more helpful to the industry if the HSE published more data on FFI breaches – a theme he picks up in this opinion piece.
“When it comes to FFI, the ability to track trends could offer huge insights into H&S failures on SME sites – and at least provide SMEs [the most common size of company to get caught up in FFI] the opportunity to learn and implement better work practices before an FFI inspector even arrives onsite.
“This may also help SMEs feel like they aren’t being unfairly targeted.
“I think knowing why the [total level of] fees has increased is important too. Are there more inspectors? Has a booming UK construction industry led to more H&S failures? Or are inspectors concentrating more on the construction industry? All of this supports my statement on making the information more freely available, we just don’t know enough.”
The HSE’s figures show that the overall number of FFI invoices issued to construction companies has decreased. There were 6,070 in the most recent 12-month period, compared to 6,877 in the previous period, a drop of around 11%.
Across all sectors, the figures show that most FFI invoices cluster around the lower end of the value scale, suggesting either that most cases are fairly straightforward – or that companies that receive a notice pay up without contesting it and risking the escalation of the final bill.
In each two-month period, typically around 30% of the notices are for £200-£500, and about 40% are for less than £200. But roughly 12% are for £1,000 to £10,000, and about 0.2% of the invoices end up costing companies over £10,000.
