HSE Fee For Intervention Charges Explained

The Health and Safety Executive does not just issue advice. For businesses found to be breaking health and safety law, it also issues invoices. The Fee for Intervention scheme, known as FFI, means that any company in material breach of health and safety regulations will be billed for the HSE’s time spent identifying and addressing that breach. With the hourly rate now sitting at £174 for 2024/25, the costs can mount quickly, and many business owners are caught entirely off guard.

This guide explains exactly how FFI works, when charges apply, what the invoices typically cover, and how your business can stay on the right side of the law.

A change to HSE’s recovery rates from 1 April 2026

The Fee for Intervention scheme was introduced under the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012. Its purpose is straightforward: businesses that break health and safety law should bear the cost of the regulatory activity required to bring them back into compliance, rather than that cost falling to the public purse.

Before FFI existed, a visit from an HSE inspector that uncovered problems might result in written advice, a formal caution, or an enforcement notice. Prosecution remained an option for serious breaches. All of that still applies today; the difference since 2012 is that a financial charge now runs alongside those outcomes. If an inspector finds a material breach during a visit, an invoice follows.

It is worth being clear about what this means in practice. You are not charged simply because an HSE inspector walks through your door. Random inspections happen, and if the inspector finds your workplace compliant, you pay nothing. The charge only arises when a material breach is identified, meaning a breach serious enough for the inspector to notify you in writing. Verbal advice given during a visit remains free of charge.

The scheme applies across most industries regulated by the HSE, including construction, manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture. Businesses regulated by local authorities rather than the HSE directly are not subject to FFI, but the vast majority of higher-risk workplaces fall within HSE jurisdiction.

What are the FFI charges?

From 1 April 2024, the HSE’s hourly recovery rate under the Fee for Intervention scheme increased from £166 to £174. This follows a series of incremental rises since FFI launched, when the rate stood at £124 per hour. It reached £129 in 2016, then £154 in 2019, before subsequent increases brought it to its current level. The HSE describes these rises as inflationary adjustments to ensure the scheme continues to recover the full cost of relevant regulatory activity.

The hourly rate alone does not tell the full story of what a business might pay. FFI invoices cover all time the HSE spends as a direct result of the material breach, not just the hours an inspector spends on site. The following table sets out the typical activities that attract charges and illustrates how costs can accumulate.

The HSE has reported that the average FFI invoice sits at around £700, while invoices related to enforcement notices tend to reach approximately £1,500. In a single financial year, 2017/18, the HSE billed businesses in excess of £15 million under the scheme, and that was before the rate increased by more than 20 per cent.

For businesses that receive improvement or prohibition notices, the costs can extend further still. Each follow-up visit, each additional report, and each hour spent on correspondence all feeds into the final invoice. There is no cap on the total amount a business can be charged, which is why even a relatively straightforward breach can result in a bill that causes genuine financial difficulty for smaller operators.er 20%

When are you charged?

It’s worth noting that while HSE inspectors have the power of entry, and they can visit at any time, you won’t always be charged under FFI. You are not just charged the moment the HSE inspector turns up at your workplace. The HSE will still do random inspections; you are not automatically charged for this.

HSE inspectors have many legal powers to carry out their work, including the right to enter and inspect your workplace. Find out more about the powers of HSE inspectors.

You will only be charged where the HSE inspector identifies a material breach of the law. In a material breach, you have broken a health and safety law, and the inspector judges that this is serious enough for them to notify you in writing. That’s anything serious enough to need a formal caution or enforcement action to make it safe. This will either be a notification of contravention, an improvement or prohibition notice, or a prosecution.

If you comply with the law, you won’t have to pay a fee.

How can you avoid FFI?

You can’t avoid HSE inspections—they can happen randomly. But you can avoid being targeted by them. HSE inspections can also happen following a complaint or an accident report. If you comply with your legal health and safety duties to provide a safe and healthy workplace, you are less likely to get inspected.

Even if you get inspected, FFI doesn’t need to be a concern. Providing that the HSE inspector is happy with what they find in your workplace and that you have reduced risk as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), you shouldn’t be issued an invoice after the visit.

Not everything has to be perfect. HSE inspectors are still giving verbal advice and help during the inspection free of charge, provided only minor issues are identified.

Can you dispute an FFI invoice?

The FFI scheme was pretty controversial when it was introduced back in 2012, no doubt about it. But it looks like it is here to stay. So, even if you disagree with the concept, it’s the law. And the thinking behind it is that the HSE is an enforcing authority. It’s necessary to enforce the health and safety laws where they are not being complied with and to protect workers from unsafe workplaces. So, it makes sense that those breaking the rules pay for the required enforcement action.

But not everything is black and white in health and safety. Health and safety regulations are less prescriptive and often impose the responsibility on employers to manage risk. This might mean that your interpretation of the requirements differs from that of the HSE inspectors.

If you decide to dispute an FFI invoice, your dispute goes to an independent HSE panel. But disputing the invoice comes with its risks. If the dispute doesn’t go in your favour, more time means additional fees!

This article was written by Mathew Oldham (HSQE Consultancy Ltd). Mathew has over 20 years of experience in health and safety and an MSc (Hons) in Construction Management. Mathew is NEBOSH Health and Safety, Construction, Fire, Environment and Diploma qualified and CertIOSH.

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