Health and safety transgressors could face heavy investigation costs.
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The first detailed look at how a new system will operate for recovering costs from those who break health and safety laws, has been published.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened a three-month consultation on how cost recovery for intervention will operate, having already agreed the underlying principle with Government. The new scheme could apply from as early as April 2012 with costs of £133/hour currently being considered. The deadline for consultation responses is 14 October.
Gordon MacDonald, HSE’s programme director, said: “The Government has agreed that it is right that those who break the law should pay their fair share of the costs to put things right – and not the public purse.
“These proposals provide a further incentive for people to operate within the law, levelling the playing field between those who comply and those who don’t. Compliant firms will not pay a penny in intervention fees. HSE already recovers its costs in a range of industries and we have considerable experience of making these schemes work.
“We want to hear from as many people as possible about how we plan to operate the scheme, to help make its introduction as successful as possible.”
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