Is an outsourced Competent Person cheaper than employing a Manager?
For the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses, yes — outsourcing the competent person role to a specialist consultancy is significantly cheaper than employing a health and safety manager directly. When you factor in the full cost of employment, the comparison is often striking.
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A qualified, experienced health and safety manager in the UK typically commands a salary of between £45,000 and £70,000 per year, depending on their level of experience and the region in which you are based. On top of the base salary, you need to account for employer National Insurance contributions, pension contributions, holiday pay, sick pay, training and continuing professional development costs, and the general overhead of having an additional employee. When all of these costs are added together, the total cost of employment can easily reach £60,000 to £85,000 per year — and that is before you consider the cost of recruiting, onboarding and managing that person.
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An outsourced competent person service, by contrast, is typically available for a monthly retainer that reflects the size and complexity of your business. For many small and medium-sized businesses, this can represent a saving of tens of thousands of pounds per year, while still providing access to a team of highly qualified professionals rather than a single individual.
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There is also an important quality dimension to consider. When you employ a single health and safety manager, you are reliant on one person's knowledge and experience. When you appoint a consultancy, you gain access to a whole team of specialists — people with experience across different industries, different regulatory frameworks and different types of risk. If your in-house manager is off sick, on holiday or simply does not have experience in a particular area, you have no backup. With an outsourced service, continuity and breadth of expertise are built in.
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Of course, for larger businesses with complex and high-risk operations, there may come a point where an in-house health and safety resource makes more sense. But for the majority of businesses with fewer than 100 employees — and many businesses significantly larger than that — an outsourced competent person service offers an excellent combination of quality, flexibility and value for money.
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However, LESH do work with many Blue Chip companies, as we have a wide range of specialist and technical skills which many in house H&S managers don't generally have, such as:
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