Consultancy agreement for a health and safety consultant

A health and safety consultant advises a business on duties the business cannot hand over, and the agreement has to reflect that: the consultant provides competent advice, assessments and documents, the client remains the duty holder and decides what to do, and when something goes wrong the question is whether the consultant advised with reasonable care, not whether the consultant was responsible for the site. The fixed fee for drafting it, for the client or for the consultant, is £595, with delivery in five working days. HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool is used to check status engagement by engagement; no document can guarantee the outcome.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales engaging a freelance or outsourced health and safety consultant as their competent person or for assessments, audits, policies and training, and consultants who want an agreement for every client.

What matters in a health and safety consultant's agreement

The services and the competent person role

The agreement should define the services (risk assessments, policies and procedures, audits and inspections, training, incident investigation support, acting as the client's competent person) by a schedule, say what is included in a retainer and what is additional, and where the consultant is appointed as the competent person the client must have under regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, record the appointment, its scope and the client's obligation to give the consultant the information and access the role needs.

The client's duties that cannot be delegated

The duties under sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to employees and to others affected by the business are the employer's and cannot be transferred to a consultant, and the agreement should say so: the consultant advises, assesses and recommends, the client implements, maintains and enforces, and the client's directors remain responsible for the business's compliance. A consultant who signs off that a site is safe has given a warranty the role does not support, and the agreement should express the consultant's output as advice given with reasonable care and skill under section 13 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

Site visits, access and the consultant's own safety

The agreement should provide for site visits by arrangement, the client's obligation to provide safe access, induction and personal protective equipment, the consultant's right to decline to enter an unsafe area, the client's responsibility for the safety of the consultant on its premises as a person affected by its undertaking, and the consultant's obligation to comply with the client's site rules; the consultant's own employer's liability insurance covers its staff, and the client's covers its site.

Reports, recommendations and the client's decisions

The agreement should say that reports and assessments are based on what the consultant observed and was told on the date of the visit, that recommendations are prioritised for the client to decide and resource, that the client is responsible for acting on them and for notifying the consultant of changes to the premises, processes or workforce, and that documents the consultant produces are licensed to the client for its own use under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 with the consultant's templates retained; where the client does not act on a recommendation, the record of that decision protects both parties.

Keeping the engagement self-employed

A consultant with several clients, their own equipment, methods and insurance, control over how the services are provided and a right to use a suitably qualified substitute is an independent business, and the agreement should say so; If the client is medium or large and the consultant invoices through a company, the determination is the client's under Chapter 10 of Part 2 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and is made with HMRC's tool on the real working arrangements.

Money, notice, insurance and liability

The agreement should state the retainer or day rate, the visits and hours included, interest on late-paid invoices as the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 provides, termination on notice by either party, and a liability ceiling expressed as a multiple of the annual fee, consequential loss carved out, drafted with the reasonableness test in section 11 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 in mind, with the consultant carrying professional indemnity and public liability insurance at stated levels; the cap does not apply to death or personal injury caused by the consultant's own negligence, and the agreement should say so.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

If we appoint the consultant as our competent person, are we covered?

You have met the obligation to appoint one. The duties to your employees and to others remain yours, and the consultant's role is to advise competently. The agreement records the appointment and keeps the duties where the law puts them.

Is the consultant liable if an accident happens on a site they assessed?

To the injured person, the duty holder is liable: the employer or occupier. The consultant may be liable to the client for negligent advice within the cap and the professional indemnity insurance, and the agreement is drafted on that basis, with the consultant's report as the evidence of what was advised.

Can the consultant refuse to go into part of our site?

The agreement gives the consultant the right to decline to enter an area they consider unsafe, and requires the client to provide safe access and induction. That protects the consultant and tells the client something it needs to know.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Terms and conditions for a health and safety consultant
• Consultancy agreement for an HR consultant

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.