The Fee for Intervention hourly rate
HSE charges £188 an hour from 1 April 2026. HSE sets the rate each April, and it has gone up every year since 2023.
£166
From April 2023
£174
From April 2024
£183
From April 2025
£188
From April 2026
When a fee is charged
A fee is payable when an inspector finds a material breach and tells you in writing. HSE defines a material breach as a breach of health and safety law that is serious enough to need written notice. The letter is called a Notification of Contravention. It can come with an improvement or prohibition notice. If you are complying with the law, you pay nothing, and advice from an inspector is free.
What the fee covers
The fee covers the inspector's time identifying the breach and working with you to put it right. That includes site visits, reading your documents, writing letters and checking that you have complied. The total depends on how many breaches there are, how complex they are and how quickly you put them right.
A missing risk assessment is one of HSE's examples
HSE's guidance on the scheme lists examples of material breaches. One is a significant risk with no suitable and sufficient risk assessment. Another is workers not being given information or training on a significant risk where that is a key control. Most contractors record both in a RAMS: the risk assessment, and the method statement the crew is briefed on.
Who pays
The scheme applies where HSE enforces the law. That covers employers, companies, partnerships and self-employed people who put others at risk. Self-employed people whose work puts only themselves at risk are not charged.
Prosecutions and fines in 2024/25
HSE completed 246 criminal prosecutions in 2024/25. 96% ended in a conviction, and the courts awarded over £33 million in fines. HSE also served about 3,200 improvement notices and about 1,200 notices stopping work that put people at risk of death or serious injury.
Get the risk assessment and method statement for your next job.
Describe the job and get the risk assessment and method statement back, built on the HSE five steps and CDM 2015.
First document free, then £15 each. No subscription.