The warning follows the first full year of the Fee For Intervention (FFI) initiative which was introduced by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in October 2012 to improve safety on site.
The new regulations meant that the HSE can now recover its costs for any material breach found on site with the hourly rate set at an eye watering £124.
A material breach is billed as being where the inspector believes there has been a contravention of health and safety law that is serious enough to require them to notify businesses in writing.
Since the crackdown was launched, on average there have been 961 invoices issued per month where businesses have had to pay for errors found during a HSE visit.
Revenue raised in the first six months alone reached £2.67 million with the average invoice coming in at £464. In the same period, 487 invoices were over £1,000 with six businesses receiving a bank busting bill of over £10,000! (Source: Health & Safety Executive).
Joanna Mulgrew marketing director at building software specialist company HBXL is now warning builders up and down the country to make sure they comply with all their health and safety obligations or risk an untimely invoice.
Joanna said: “One year on it’s clear that HSE is taking the FFI initiative very seriously. The figures speak for themselves and as inspectors become more familiar with the system the general expectation is that FFI will be implemented even more often across the board.”
Mulgrew’s concerns are backed by Dave Price, an independent health and safety consultant who believes prevention rather than cure is the best way to avoid a fine.
And with the second two months seeing 27% more invoices issued than the first two months and the third two months seeing 40% more invoices issued than the second two months, their concerns should be listened to.
Dave added: “It’s clear that there will be an upward trend in the number of invoices issued so builders have to act now. The potential cost could hit building firms hard just as many are showing signs of recovery.”
According to Mulgrew one of the best ways to make sure builders are not in breach of their obligations is to consider HBXL’s Health & Safety Xpert software that provides all health and safety paperwork required on any job at the push of a button. It is then ready for review and implementation on site making sure builders are running a safe project.
She added: “Every business should take their health and safety obligations seriously as they have a duty of care for both their workforce and general public but the annoying thing is that the vast majority of these breaches are so easily avoided.
“The software enables builders to keep pace with ever stricter compliance requirements. All users have to do is tell the software what they are building and it will present the hazards and suggest control measures to put in place to ensure there are no breaches in regulations.
“It’s infinitely cheaper than an invoice and more importantly helps prevent those working on site getting injured.”
For further information on Health & Safety Xpert or any HBXL product please call T: 0845 1234 065 or visit the web site www.hbxl.co.uk
