IIRSM launches FFI reimbursement scheme
The International Institute of Risk and Safety Management has partnered with a leading insurance company, backed by a market leading ‘A’ rated Lloyds syndicate, to allow its members to provide cover to their clients or employers to reimburse HSE Fee for Intervention (FFI) invoices – meaning that the support and advice they are already providing to clients will extend to include practical financial protection against this unforeseen expenditure.
Greg Brown, Deputy Chief Executive of IIRSM, believes this is a real step forward in IIRSM’s commitment to be a supportive and practical membership body for its members: “By including this FFI Reimbursement within their service proposition (it is not available as a stand-alone option) IIRSM Members will be able to provide even greater business support and enhance their profile within the business community and reinforcing professional standards in consultancy too. They are already working with clients to ensure they have effective risk management processes in place – this scheme will help to cement those relationships.”
This insurance can only be purchased by IIRSM Members on behalf of their clients or employers and is not available on the open market. As the HSE’s FFI scheme only has jurisdiction in the UK this applies to IIRSM Members who work with or for clients or businesses based in England, Wales or Scotland in businesses where the HSE is the enforcing authority. We anticipate that Northern Ireland will be included in the near future.
Earlier this year an independent panel was commissioned to review the HSE’s Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme.
HSE’s Board has considered the panel’s report and accepted its conclusion that FFI is effective and should remain in place. This view has been endorsed by Minister. The report notes that HSE inspectors have implemented ‘Fee for Intervention’ consistently since it started in October 2012, and found no evidence to suggest that enforcement decision-making has been influenced by its introduction.
The report acknowledges the professional approach adopted by HSE inspectors, which ensured that any challenges raised by the scheme during its first 18 months were minimised.
It concludes that FFI “has proven effective in achieving the overarching policy aim of shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses who break health and safety laws.”
