Working with the health and safety authorities in Guernsey and Jersey
Summary
This guidance and the formalised agreements reflect HSE's desire to charge for the services that it provides the Government Departments in the States of Guernsey and Jersey.
Introduction
For many years, HSE has offered advice and support to the Government Departments in the States of Guernsey and Jersey that are responsible for the inspection and enforcement of health and safety legislation on the Channel Islands (CIs). These arrangements have worked well, but they have been organised on an ad-hoc basis, using direct contact between the CIs and staff in HSE or HSL.
With the advent of FFI and following the Triennial Review of HSE, the arrangements between HSE and the CIs were reviewed and formalised with agreements signed between both the Chief Inspectors of Guernsey and Jersey and HSE in Letters of Understanding (LoUs).
Action
All requests for assistance from either CI Authority must follow the arrangements set out in the LoU and requests for work from the CIs will normally be directed via the FOD Head of Operations South East. All HSE staff approached for support by either State's authority should record their work in accordance with the relevant LoU Appendix which contains the applicable chargeable elements, arrangements for recording work and T&S rates. Arrangements to invoice for this work should be made via PFPD.
Requests from other authorities, including the Isle of Man, Falklands, Gibraltar and Cyprus Sovereign Base may be covered by similar agreements and if HSE staff receive any requests for assistance, advice should be sought, in the first instance from FOD HQ.
Background
The purpose of these LoUs is to recover all costs incurred as a result of work for the relevant State Authority. From the dates of the relevant LoU, the FOD Head of Operations for the South East will also act as the single point of contact for questions associated with any work carried out under the terms of the relevant LoU. Any requests for specialist support will be directed to the relevant Division/specialism. Where HSE cannot or is not best placed to provide that support, the request will be directed initially to HSL. Any work carried out by HSL for the relevant CIs' authority, whether or not arranged within the terms of the LoU, will be charged at the rates normally charged by HSL for that work and invoiced accordingly.
These LoUs were negotiated through FOD's Southern Division on behalf of the whole of HSE and came into force on 1 February 2014 for Guernsey and 24 March 2014 for Jersey.