‘HSE SHOULD NOT EXPECT A BLANK CHEQUE FROM INDUSTRY’ - CBA
18 October 2011
‘HSE SHOULD NOT EXPECT A BLANK CHEQUE FROM INDUSTRY’ - CBA
The Chemical Business Association (CBA) has branded the Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) plans to extend cost recovery as the equivalent of seeking a blank cheque from industry to compensate for cuts in its departmental budget.
HSE’s consultative document outlining its plans for extended cost recovery refers to this process as ‘Fees for Intervention’. In its formal response to the HSE’s consultation, CBA describes the proposals as being ‘opaque, lacking fairness, or accountability’. It adds that the ‘absence of transparency conclusively reveals the policy objectives of ‘Fee for Intervention’ as revenue generation.’
The HSE proposes to charge industry for any ‘material breach’ found by its Inspectors and for any ‘formal intervention’ required. The HSE’s consultative document fails to make clear what precisely constitutes a ‘material breach’ or a ‘formal intervention’. There is therefore also no identifiable point at which the extended cost recovery regime is triggered.
Under the new regime, HSE plan to recover its costs at the rate of around £1,000 per day (£133 per hour). These figures may be higher if external consultants are employed. There is no indication as to how these rates are calculated - the salary level involved; the basis for overhead recovery; or what consumables are included.
CBA believe that in any extended system of cost recovery there must be genuine accountability. Charges should only be imposed at the formal enforcement notice stage (after an Improvement or Prohibition Notice). This process will also provide a tried and tested appeals process through which companies can challenge HSE’s decisions.
In its consultative document, HSE proposes an internal mechanism to resolve any disputes. CBA has pointed out that this is inadequate and fails to follow the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ statutory guidelines for regulators. These make clear that all complaints procedures should include a final stage to allow disputes to be transferred to an external, independent person or body.
CBA Chairman, Neville Prior, said, “When the Chair of HSE first trailed these proposals, she frankly admitted they were designed to compensate for a 35% cut in the HSE’s budget by 2014. Adding unnecessarily to industry’s costs at a time when the Government’s deficit reduction plans are heavily growth-dependent seems self-defeating. In a wider context, CBA is concerned that ‘Fee for Intervention’ will fundamentally change industry’s perception of HSE: from a regulator respected for its impartiality to an organisation focused on the generation of additional revenue.”
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Further information from: Peter Newport, Director, CBA
01270258200
www.chemical.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
(1) CBA advocates 100% legal compliance, does not defend intentional transgressions of the law, and has consistently supported effective enforcement of regulations. Over recent years, CBA has developed and published a number of industry guidelines – which have been formally endorsed by HSE – and which are designed to improve industry standards.
(2) In a speech (December 2010) and article in HSE’s house magazine (January 2011), the Chair of HSE, Judith Hackitt said, “Ministers have also encouraged us to look at ways in which we can replace Government funding with income from other sources and we are currently in the process of developing proposals in this area. It is not clear at this stage the extent of recovery that we will be able to implement or how much this will offset the 35 per cent reduction.”
(3) For CBA’s full response to the HSE, go to: http://www.chemical.org.uk/regulatoryissues/healthandsafety/cbacostrecovery.aspx
(4) Each year CBA members distribute more than 2.2 million tonnes of chemicals with a market value of almost three billion euros. CBA's logistics companies handle more than 6 million tonnes of chemicals annually. The Association’s members, the majority of which are SMEs, are the key industry interface with thousands of UK downstream chemical users.
