What documents are needed for CHAS?

CHAS is an assessment of your Health & Safety documentation, so you will need to provide evidence that this is carried out correctly. Depending on the size of your business depends on the information you need to provide. The details below are for 5 employees or less you will need more for 5+ employees.

Examples of documentation needed will include:

• Toolbox Talks attendance sheets
• COSHH assessments
• Risk Assessment and Method Statement for job specifics
• Sub contractor induction documentation
• Agreements to show evidence of your safety advisor.
• COVID 19 procedures and processes
• Evidence of training requirement for your industry this can include:
  • CSCS cards
  • Manual Handling
  • Working at heights
  • Asbestos awareness
  • Abrasive Wheel Training

This is not an exhaustive list as each industry will require different information. The assessment is based purely on the documentation you provide so you must be 100% confident with everything you submit.

If you are unsure if you have all the documentation in place there are consultants who can help you. If you would like some advice please get in touch.

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What is Safe Contractor?

Have you been asked for Safe Contractor?

Safe Contractor is a Health & Safety accreditation that is currently run by the government. The Scheme is to ensure companies meet a specific standard for Health & Safety. Safe Contractor is used by thousands of consultants, contractors and businesses every month, typically applying for work with public and private sector companies.

The Safe contractor scheme was developed and is managed by the Government Health and Safety and Procurement Professionals, with the support of the Health and Safety Executive, since 1999. The purpose of the scheme is to ensure that buyers who are signed up have the knowledge that suppliers that use in the scheme are competent and have been assessed.

Suppliers health and safety policy statement, their organisation and how it deals with health and safety and their specific health and safety arrangements will be assessed. As everyone is assessed using the same process buyers know that they are using suppliers who, work to an acceptable standard.

Safe Contractor and suppliers

• Avoids repeated applications
• Consistent Health & Safety assessment
• Access to local authority suppliers
• Saves time and money for all parties.

Safe Contractor and Buyers

• Safe Contractor membership allows access to health trusts, councils, emergency services, the voluntary sector, housing associations, private companies and government departments.
• To locate competent suppliers and contractors,
• Potentially saving time and money for all parties.
• Buyers are afforded peace of mind

What does Safe Contractor assess?

• Assesses health and Safety Management
• Assess compliance issues that apply to work undertaken by you.

If your looking to gain Safe Contractor you can go direct to their site and complete the application yourself, or if your looking for some help in completing the forms we can help you.

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SSIP Accreditation and CHAS

Have you recently been asked for an SSIP accreditation?

SSIP Accreditation and CHAS – SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) is an umbrella group which sits above a number of accreditations you can get which assess your companies Health & Safety. There are a number of assessments you can go for and we have highlighted the most popular ones below:

• Acclaim
• Altius VA
• APS Corporate Membership
• ARB Approved Contractor
• Avetta (Formerly PICS Auditing)
• Builders Profile
• ConstructionLine
• BESA H&S Assessment
• BCSA
• CHAS
• CQMS Safety-Scheme
• DW H&S
• Eurosafe CDM Competent
• Exor H&S Qualified
• FASET
• Greenlight
• HSAS
• Laing O’Rourke
• MSL Safepartner
• NAS
• NASSH
• NHBC
• PQS
• Safemark Principal Safety (PASS)
• Safe-T-Cert
• Safe Contractor
• SMAS
• Worksafe
• OHSAS 18001 (schemes are listed on the site)

CHAS

The majority of our clients go for CHAS accreditation as this seems to be the popular one within the industry. CHAS have recently gone online with their submissions so customers can upload their documentation and then pay for the assessments once they are ready to submit.

This makes it easier for customers to see progress and communicate with their assessor.

If you are looking to get CHAS accreditation but are having trouble with the necessary documentation we can help with the preparation of these, we also provide a safety advisor service for companies with less than 5 employees so we can stay with you and help to implement the new documentation.

Impartial advise

Feel free to call us 0800 031 5404, and we can advise you on the best selection for your needs. We have completed thousands of applications and understand the market inside out. We don’t mind which company you select; the assessment process is the same, thanks to SSIP.

Who is Seguro

Seguro Health and Safety Management employs qualified health and safety consultants who complete the application to obtain accreditation from all the assessment companies. Seguro removes the pain of completing all the documentation and ensuring you comply. Feel free to contact us.

Learn more about CHAS

We have a series of articles where you can learn more about CHAS. The list of articles is below:

• What is CHAS
• CHAS accreditations
• CHAS registration
• Guide to CHAS
• CHAS renewal
• CHAS accreditation cost
• CHAS assessment criteria
• CHAS deem to satisfy
• CHAS Training Guidance
• Competent person and CHAS
• CHAS support

If you have any questions on what is CHAS accreditation please get in touch.

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Looking for CHAS renewal forms?

CHAS adopt the same system for their renewals as they do for new registrations, all registrations are now online and you can register on CHAS website. When you go to the website you will be given the following options at the top of the right hand side of the screen:

• Renew
• Apply
• Login

If you click on renew you will be taken to a log in screen where you are required to add email address and password. There is a forgot password option if you have forgotten the details you used last year. If you don’t have the same email address you will need to call CHAS on 0208 545 3838 and they will help you.

Once you have logged in, you will be able to complete your CHAS renewal application online and once complete you can submit for assessment.

If you need any help with your CHAS renewal once you have started the process, let us know and we will be happy to assist.

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Constructionline and Acclaim

Acclaim is the constructionline version of a Health & Safety Assessment.  Gaining your Acclaim Accreditation would enable you to become a member of ‘Safety Schemes In Procurement’ (SSIP), which is an umbrella organisation for health and safety assessment schemes.

Unsure how this works please click here to see the the flow of the process.

SSIP is known in the industry as one of the largest growing schemes with more buyers recognising it within the construction industry. This gives suppliers the opportunity to become a member of the scheme that suits them. This helps companies to eliminate the need to apply for multiple accreditation’s to appease different buyers.
Benefits of the Acclaim scheme

• The simple questionnaire contains twelve questions and wont require you to resubmit any information you have already provided as part of your Constructionline membership.
• The Acclaim Accreditation assessment is undertaken by the experts at Capita Property and Infrastructure. You will be provided with full details of the assessment and the assessor comments.
• Acclaim Accreditation fees are based on your annual turnover, ensuring that the payment is affordable to all companies who require it.

If you would like some more information on the accreditation and think you may need help in completing the process please get in touch.

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Being members of Safe Contractor and Constructionline.

Being members of Safe Contractor and Constructionline can ensure that your company ticks all the boxes no matter who you decide to work for. As they are separate accreditation’s they cover an accreditation under the SSIP umbrella as well as one for Constructionline.

There is also a benefit in getting these both together at the same time if you are looking for help in completing them as there is often a discount available.

In terms of benefits to your business for getting both of the accreditation’s there are a number of benefits from each one:

Safe Contractor benefits

• Being a member allows you to be able to show compliance for your health and safety competence to new and existing clients. Providing this is the accreditation they are looking fro you will no longer need to fill in PQQ on an ad hoc basis.
• You can provide you clients with access to your online portal 24/7
• If a client has specifically asked you to join they will be notified you have in their monthly report.

Constructionline Benefits

• Access to over 8000 buyers
• Being part of Constructionline shows you have met the standards and regulations set out to comply.
• Improves your efficiency and time spent on PQQ

As Health & Safety Consultants we can help you to achieve both accreditations. Learn more about accreditations.

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As of 13th August 2018 the new levels are now available on the CHAS website.

Please find below the joining cost to be paid directly to CHAS.

If you need any help completing the new levels please get in touch.

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There has been a recent announcement from Constructionline CEO John Edmunds to confirm the sale of Construcionline to Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing.

Constructionline have been operating for over 20 years focusing on managing the supply chain in both public and commercial sectors. The main focus of Constructionline will remain the same on a day to day basis with plans to develop the product offering to new and existing customers.

“Since their first European transaction in 1983, Warburg Pincus has invested more than $9B in over 100 companies in 20 European countries, with a focus on partnering with strong management teams to build businesses of scale. They are committed to Constructionline and Acclaim and firmly believe in the long-term growth potential we offer.”John Edmunds CEO

Here at Seguro we are available to help anyone looking to gain accreditation for constructionline including the new level 3 (gold), get in touch if you need any assistance.

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Changes to the CDM regulations

There has been some recent changes to the CDM regulations which you can find below:

The HSE has now published a Q&A briefing document to help its own inspectors understand whether work falls under CDM. In doing so it has interpreted the technical wording of the construction definition in an unexpected way.

Good news!

A spokesperson told IOSH magazine that, “where maintenance activity involves construction processes, requires construction skills and uses construction materials, it is most likely to fall within the term construction work. General maintenance of fixed plant which mainly involves mechanical adjustments, replacing parts or lubrication is unlikely to be construction work.”

Note. As a result of this publication the following activities are not considered to be construction work and so are not covered by CDM 2015 :

• treeworks, industrial cleaning, inspection/testing of services, cleaning solar panels, and similar: unless any of these works are associated with a building project
• maintenance of fixed plant such as servicing boilers, lifts and gas appliances; and
• minor repairs, e.g. to doors, floors, walls.

Tip. This work is still covered by other health and safety legislation, but by eliminating CDM from the equation, a more pragmatic approach can be taken.

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Contractors working on Domestic premises

If you are a domestic customer employing a contractor to do work within your home there are a number of helpful resources you might need when looking for the right contractor.

Domestic clients:

People who have construction work carried out on their own home or the home of a family member, that is not done in furtherance of a business, whether for profit or not. Domestic clients are in scope of CDM 2015, but their duties as a client are normally transferred to:

• the contractor, on a single contractor project, or
• the principal contractor, on a project involving more than one contractor.

However, the domestic client can choose to have a written agreement with the principal designer to carry out the client duties.

www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/domestic-clients.htm

Health & Safety

Are they accredited by a reputable safety Scheme e.g. CHAS or other SSIP Scheme?

If you wanted to verify that a company is

CHAS registered:www.chas.co.uk/ContactCHAS.aspx

SSIP:www.ssip.org.uk

It is abit of minefield knowing exactly what you need to do and what you should expect from the contractor you are using, CHAS have arranged everything in one convenient place if you would like more details.

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