Companies have to pay HSE inspectors’ fees of up to £124-an-hour if they are found to be breaking safety laws.

The scheme has been running since October 2012 and has raised £5.5m in fines across all industries.

Now a leading safety consultancy is reporting that calls to its own advice line have doubled since the HSE introduced Fee for Intervention.

Building Safety Group said calls to its Technical Support Line were at a record high as its own figures show a rise of 13% in the number of accidents in the quarter August to October compared to the same time last year.

Managing director Paul Kimpton said: “The rise in accidents occurring in the last three months compared to the same quarter last year is very worrying; how much of the rise is due to companies now being worried to ask HSE for advice in the way they used to can only be guessed at but it is bound to be having an impact.”

One contractor said: “Of course you’d think twice about ringing the HSE if you know that in the next room they have people ready to turn-up on your site and start charging fees.”