Compliance Fine Scenario Calculator

What the formula includes and excludes

The number of items is multiplied by the amount per item, and the additional scenario costs are added once at the end. Unlike the incident cost calculator, the additional amount is a single lump sum and is not multiplied by the count. A result appears only when all three fields are filled, the count is a whole number, no value is negative and the total stays within the safe range of the browser's numbers.

The currency menu changes the symbol and formatting only. It does not convert between currencies and it holds no exchange rates, so enter every amount in the currency you have selected. Nothing else is included: no legal schedule, probability of enforcement, reduction for cooperation, insurance, legal fees or lost business unless you put them into the additional field.

Assumptions and their limits

The tool assumes every counted item attracts the same amount. Real penalties are often set case by case, so a single figure per item is a simplification. If amounts differ, run separate scenarios or enter the combined amount for one item as the page suggests. It also assumes the items are independent: if one event can lead to several findings but only one sanction, counting each finding overstates the result.

Worked example

The numbers here are illustrative and are not drawn from any penalty schedule. With EUR selected, suppose you want to test a scenario of 3 items at an assumed €12,500 each, plus €4,000 of additional costs such as external advice.

• Items: 3 × €12,500.00 = €37,500.00
• Add the additional costs: €37,500.00 + €4,000.00 = €41,500.00

The calculator shows €41,500.00 for these inputs and describes it as 3 multiplied by €12,500.00 + €4,000.00. Changing the count to 4 gives €54,000.00, because the €4,000 is added once and does not grow with the count.

Why the result can understate or overstate real cost

Because no probability is applied, the total answers the question "what if every counted item led to this amount?" and is not an expected value. It overstates the position when penalties are reduced, suspended or never imposed, or when items would not be sanctioned separately. It understates it when consequences go beyond a monetary penalty, such as remediation work, management time, stopped operations, higher insurance cost or lost contracts, and none of those has been entered in the additional field.

Using the figure

Ask a qualified adviser which amounts apply to your sites and activities before you enter them, and record the source and date of each one. Test a cautious, a central and a severe version instead of relying on one number. Use the total to open a budgeting or priorities conversation, not to state what an authority will do. The print option saves the page as shown, so write the date and sources beside it. This is general information and not legal advice.

The four inputs, one by one

• Currency. A label and a number format. Nothing is converted, so every amount must already be in that currency.
• Number of items. A whole number of the things you are testing, such as findings that could each lead to a separate sanction. Decide how you count a single event that produces several findings before you enter the number.
• Assumed amount per item. The figure you want to test for each item. It should come from a source you can name and date, or be labelled as an assumption on any copy you share.
• Additional scenario costs. One lump sum added once, for costs that do not grow with the count, such as external advice or a fixed remediation project. It starts at zero.

Choosing the amount to enter

The amount is the part of the scenario that matters most and the part this tool cannot supply. The figure walks through the questions to ask about a published amount before you use it.

A second example: three versions of one scenario

These figures are invented, are not drawn from any penalty schedule, and use pounds only to show that the currency is a label. A cautious case assumes 2 items at £4,500 each, with £2,500 of additional costs. A central case assumes 5 items at £8,000 each, with the same £2,500. A severe case assumes 5 items at £20,000 each, with £8,000 of additional costs.

• Cautious: 2 × £4,500.00 = £9,000.00, plus £2,500.00 = £11,500.00
• Central: 5 × £8,000.00 = £40,000.00, plus £2,500.00 = £42,500.00
• Severe: 5 × £20,000.00 = £100,000.00, plus £8,000.00 = £108,000.00

The range, from £11,500.00 to £108,000.00, is more informative than any one line. If the five items arose from a single event and drew one sanction instead of five, the central case would be 1 × £8,000.00 + £2,500.00 = £10,500.00, so how you count items moves the result as much as the amount does.

Where amounts come from, and their limits

The calculator contains no amounts, and this page states none. The authority that enforces the rule is the source, and its page is the one to read on the day you use it. As an example of how one authority publishes them, the OSHA penalties page, opened on 4 October 2026, lists its maximum penalty amounts with the annual adjustment for inflation, and says that states running their own occupational safety and health plans must adopt maximums at least as effective as federal OSHA's. Read the effective date printed on that page when you use it, because the amounts change.

For any other country or authority, find its own current publication. A published maximum is a ceiling, not a typical outcome, and it does not describe how the authority treats a particular case. Outcomes also depend on matters outside this calculator, such as the facts, the history and any appeal.

Questions to put to an adviser

• Which authorities can act against the sites and activities in this scenario, and where do their published amounts sit?
• Is each amount a maximum, a fixed sum or a band, and what conditions does it state?
• Can one event produce several sanctions, or does one outcome cover several findings?
• Which costs besides a penalty, such as remediation, legal fees or stopped work, belong in the additional field, and which would be counted twice?
• What date and source should be written beside each figure before the scenario is shared?