Hi Evans, I would say that if your friend wants to cite you as the person giving H&S advice then its not informal.

Thanks Safety smurf and Phil. Ok in order to complete the work I would need to check all the assessments that they have, complete the method statements on an ongoing basis and complete any work as necessary. I will check out the health and safety policy thoroughly. I have checked out some insurance for consultancy work and the premiums are around £500. Again if I am not doing this work regurlarly the cost of the premium is unsustainable. The problem they have is that they do not have anyone at the company with qualifications that are required by the site, hence why they have asked me. Are you are aware of any consultant giving advice without indeminity insurance. Thanks

This is a difficult one as you have to applaud the fact that your friend is even thinking about getting competent advice for such a small company. I have come across a fair few who don't bother. Your friend's obligation here is to obtain the competent advice as holmezy says. The issue comes if say - your friend's company were to be sued and there was any question about the correctness of advice you had given them. Your friend's insurers would almost certainly want to pursue YOU for a share of the costs. If you have no insurance to cover this then you are personally liable for the costs. This is why we consultants have indemnity insurance and yes it's not cheap! At the very least I would strongly advise that you do not put your name on the policy or any other documentation. One thought that does occur to me - could your friend actually put you on his books as an employee? Then the indemnity insurance question would not arise. I have no idea of the practicality of this as I am not an employment expert, but I know a company I used to work for did this with the agreement of their insurers for ex-employees who came back for short-term consultancy contracts.

The price you have been quoted seems excessive for PI insurance i pay at least half that with public liability try Hiscox online. The company doesn't pay for the PI it would be yourself so if they employed a safety consultant they wouldn't be paying for his PI he would. Possible employing a self employed consultant already running a business may be the way to go or at least looking at getting a quote for work they would require him to do on this one project that way he could be named. It seems that you would be taking on a lot of work with no reward for yourself which is fine as it is a friend that owns the company but ultimately he will be making money from the work and so should you may be at mates rates but you should be looking at gaining something from it. Your friend company could be jumping through loops only not to be offered the work in the first place. I have a family member who is in the same position who regularly quoted for work and completes all the necessary H&S work only not to get the job. so your friend needs to be clear do they need to just provide the H&S information to get the job or are they quoting along with everyone else, which mean it could be a very expensive process if they are unlikely to get the job? Unfortunately companies want H&S documentation but aren't willing to pay the cost for small business's to put the time and effort into producing them only not to give the job at the end of the day. Phil

Thanks Phil I will ask him the question about whether the work is going to be his providing he can just provide the information or whether he is just one of many contractors. Your advice has been very helpful. It was worth asking the question. Stuff 4blokes thanks for your comments. I want to do things correctly hence the original question. Now I have a good idea of how to approach the request I can now let him know his options. Thanks again

Thanks skywalker sounds like a reasonable request I will put it by him.

Hi Stedman I have printed out the documents now from the website. I will read these in depth. Call it naive but I never knew "consultancy" "advice" could be so involved. This is of course not a problem if you are a direct employee of a company, however I understand that controls must be in place. As I am employed by a company and do not want to go the solo route, the costs you have mentioned would certainly be prohibitive. It is likely that although I feel I could offer good health and safety advice to my friend it would be much easier for him (and less of a headache for me) to go to an established consultant with all the insurances in place. Thanks for the information

I should clarify - I wouldn't without the relevant insurance.

Evans, it makes no difference whether a professional person provides advice for a fee, for benefits in kind, or free of charge – they still have a duty of care to their client. They are therefore exposed to potential liabilities and may be sued for negligence. In your case you would be providing professional advice to your pal for free. I would consider asking your friend to talk to his P.I. insurers. He is instructing you and should understand the responsibilities you have and should be asked to provide cover/protection on your behalf, maybe by simply extending his PI to cover your limited activity within his company.(i.e only to cover the advice you give him) That way he gets the advice he obviously respects and you are neither left uninsured nor out of pocket, p48

There was a similar thread to this recently. I have provided advice in the past to social and sports clubs that I am a member, without charge and not signed my name to anything. I do not see any problem with this. Better they get some proper advice than try and go it alone. Furthermore, I have also provided advice to friends, usually informally ie in the pub, not charged and not signed my name to anything - job done. I find that others are advocating a more conservative approach which includes PLI. I think this is OTT and although consultants can be prosecuted or held liable for h&s advice, these types of cases are very rare and only for the most negligent of advice. Dare I say it, but there is a need to be sensible here...

Health and safety on the cheap. This is what all contractors would like but most decide to pay the going rate. PI insurance is essential, whether on the books using the company's or you pay it yourself. You want to help your friend out but don't want to pay out? It is your name on the documents so you are responsible for your input. By all means do the work for free but take care of yourself. We'd all like to work without cost to ourselves but this is the real world. If your friend was a real friend he wouldn't put you in this position in the first place?