What would an HSE incident actually cost you?
People picture the fine and stop there. The fine is rarely the biggest number. Between the HSE's hourly charge, the investigation, the sick pay, the cover, the insurance excess and the days you spend dealing with it, the real cost of one incident runs far higher than most owners assume. Put your numbers in and see it.
What could poor health & safety really cost you?
A rough, transparent estimate of the direct cost of workplace incidents — before fines, claims or lost contracts.
Indicative only: 3 × (4 days × £150/day + £500 admin). It excludes HSE fines, civil claims, insurance loading and lost tenders — usually the far larger costs.
Cut this with a free H&S reviewMost people are surprised by how the smaller costs stack up around the headline fine.
The estimate adds up the costs that actually land after an incident, whether or not there's a prosecution. Three inputs drive it: your sector, your headcount and the type of incident.
Charged at £174 per hour once a material breach is found, covering the inspector's time investigating, writing up and following it through. A single investigation can run to many hours, so the bill mounts quickly.
Yours and your team's. Hours spent dealing with the incident are hours off the job that pays the bills, and they don't come back.
Sick pay for the injured employee, plus the cover you bring in to keep the job moving while they're off. Both scale with the size of your team.
The excess you pay on the claim, and the premium increase that often follows for years afterwards. Easy to forget, hard to ignore once it lands.
Common questions
What is the HSE Fee for Intervention?
Is this calculator a real quote or an estimate?
Why is there no email form on this one?
The estimate looks high. Is it really that expensive?
A calculator points you in the right direction. A consultant gets you there.
The calculator tells you what an incident could cost. Your named Spectra consultant does the work that stops it landing: writes the risk assessments, sorts the policies and training, and stands with you if a client, an auditor or the HSE turns up. Book a free review and we'll tell you, plainly, where your real exposure is.