In-House vs Outsourced QHSE Manager: What Drives the Cost

What makes up the cost of a QHSE function?

Four blocks, in both models: the time of the person who holds the function, the resources around them, the internal time they draw on and the cost of failure when the system slips. Comparing a fully loaded salary with a provider’s invoice compares only the first block.

The table gives no amount, on purpose: salaries and rates vary too much between profiles, sectors and regions for a generic figure to serve your decision. What helps is putting a figure on each line for your own site.

What makes the budget of an outsourced engagement vary?

Scope and calendar, more than size alone. Eight factors come back in the way we size engagements:

1. The domains covered: quality only, quality, health and safety and environment, food safety on top.
2. The number of standards and customer requirements: ISO 9001:2026, ISO 14001:2026, ISO 45001:2018, sector standards, customer specifications.
3. Headcount, the number of workshops and shift teams: a site that runs at night is also inspected at night.
4. The risk level: presses, chemicals, lifting, refrigeration, work at height.
5. The number of sites and the distance between them.
6. The maturity of the system: a system that works costs less to run than a system to be rebuilt.
7. The calendar: transitions to ISO 14001:2026 by 30 April 2029 and to ISO 9001:2026 by 30 September 2029, a certification project, customer audits.
8. The level of reporting expected: management only, group, customers, lender.

The first months cost more: gap analysis, catching up on overdue actions, setting up routines. A steady state follows, which the engagement review adjusts. Our article on onboarding an outsourced QHSE manager describes this ramp-up over the first 90 days.

Which hidden costs distort the comparison?

Vacancy and failure on the in-house side, coordination on the outsourced side. They appear on no invoice, but they often weigh more than the price difference.

On the in-house side:

• the vacant post: during recruitment, the safety and hygiene committee (comité de sécurité et d’hygiène, or CSH, the joint employer and employee body that the Moroccan Labour Code requires from 50 employees) stops meeting, internal audits slip, the management review is postponed;
• turnover: every departure takes part of the knowledge of the site with it;
• the overly junior profile, chosen to stay within budget: they learn while the system deteriorates;
• the function held “on top” by a production or maintenance manager: their time is the real cost, and it is missing elsewhere.

On the outsourced side:

• the internal contact person’s time, essential between two visits;
• the start-up period, during which the provider learns the site;
• the handover at the end of the engagement, to be planned in the engagement letter;
• scope creep that grows out of a vague engagement letter.

In both models, the heaviest cost is that of a system that slips: findings that come back from one audit to the next, actions carried out in a hurry, a lost customer. In health and safety, the Global ACI document for OH&S certification (Global ACI-TECH-3-016) provides that a serious incident involving the competent authority can lead to a special audit, then to suspension or withdrawal of the certificate if the system seriously failed. Global ACI is the organisation that took over from the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) for accreditation.

Does outsourcing change the cost of audits and training?

No: the rules for calculating audits and for funding training stay the same, whatever the status of the QHSE manager.

The duration of the certification audit is set by the certification body under document Global ACI-TECH-3-004: a starting point based on headcount, adjusted for the risk level and listed factors, with a written justification given as part of the contract. That cost is paid to the certification body in both models. In a combined audit, genuine integration of the system can reduce the duration: under Global ACI-TECH-3-008, the reduction never exceeds 20% of the sum of the durations for each standard. Details are on our integrated QHSE management system page.

For training, the rule is simple: consultancy and the outsourced function remain paid by the company. Training for your employees included in the training plan (internal auditors, process owners, committee members, first aiders) may fall under the special training contracts (contrats spéciaux de formation, CSF) of OFPPT, Morocco’s vocational training office, under the rates and ceilings of the CSF procedures manual (May 2006, amended by Amendment No. 2 of 2 June 2014); training engineering may be supported by the GIAC, the sector-based interprofessional groups that help companies with training engineering. We never promise an amount: we simulate your situation on our CSF and OFPPT funding page.

How do you choose between the two models?

By the nature of the need. A daily, permanent need on a high-risk site calls for an in-house post. A permanent but partial need, or a transitional one, calls for part-time presence. A peak, such as a version transition, calls for reinforcement. The mixed model, a QHSE technician hired in-house and supervised by a senior part-time manager, often covers the ground in between; our plastics SME case study shows it in practice.

Before deciding, answer these questions:

• Does the QHSE workload of your site justify a daily presence, all year round?
  
• Do your risks require a competent person present at all times?
  
• How many standards and sites must the function cover?
  
• Who holds the function during leave, sickness or a departure?
  
• Which deadlines fall in the next two years: transitions, certification, customer audits?
  
• Has the time of the manager who currently holds the function “on top” been counted?
  
• Can an internal contact person give regular time to an outsourced engagement?
  
• Has the cost of a major nonconformity or a suspended certificate been estimated?
  

The engagement models and the governance of the engagement are detailed in our part-time QHSE manager guide.