As of 1st October 2017 CHAS have increased their assessment fees for all levels. Please find below the new fees for new applications as well as renewals:

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Updated Safe Contractor Joining fees 2017

Safe Contractor is part of the SSIP umbrella group and is an assessment of your companies Health & Safety capabilities. Safe contractor is often needed if you wish to work with larger business clients and public sector companies.

Safe contractor have the facility for you to submit everything online as well as pay for a fast track service if you need it within 24 hours.

If you are looking for help please see our information available.

The fees listed below are correct as of 18/09/2017

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Hot Topics for the Health & Safety Myth Busters Panel

There are a number of topics that are currently Hot within the Health & Safety Industry and the HSE has gathered them together for easy reference. Here at Seguro we think these are all relevant and worth a read of you get the time.

Let us know what you think, if there are any more questions you would like answering please let us know.

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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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CHAS payment changes

As of January 2017 CHAS have changed the process for making payment for assessment of your documentation. You now need to pay up front before you are able to proceed with any further steps in the process.

To start the process you need to follow the steps below:

Existing CHAS holders

• Log in using your Login ID already provided by CHAS
• Click on Apply Now
• Continue filling in your company details until payment option.
• Once payment has been made you will be able to begin.

New CHAS application

• Go to CHAS page
• Click on the apply now for full application link
• Continue filling in your company details until payment option.
• Once payment has been made you will be able to begin.

Once you have made payment this is the time you can contact us to help you complete the application. The application process is quite complex and can be daunting, if you are not used to completing them. We have completed thousands of application, we are fast and cost effective. Get in touch and we can support you.

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CHAS October 2016 Price application Review

We have recently noticed that CHAS have had an annual price review and have amended their payment structure. This new structure is applicable from 3rd October 2016 for any new applications.

There has also been a fee introduced if you wish to submit your documentation manually and not through the E-Form process.

All information can be found on CHAS website. We have detailed the prices below for your reference.

Assessments requested on or after 3rd October 2016

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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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Health & Safety Myth Buster Part 3

Hopefully you are following the myth busters on  HSE website to give you abit of insight into the world of misplaced Health & Safety. We have a read every friday to help keep us up to date on the latest “bloopers”

Don’t forget the panel is waiting for the next story so get in touch if you think you have one for them. There are Safety implications for almost everything and if your not sure we have a free toolbox talk kit you are more than welcome to download.

Here are the some of our favourites since July:

Case 396 – Supermarket cafe refused to sell customer a packet of untoasted fruit bread

Case 395 – Supermarket banned foldaway bicycle from store for health and safety reasons

Case 394 – Tumble turns banned from Council run swimming pool for health and safety reasons

Case 393 – Library will not let users plug their laptops into power sockets for health and safety reasons

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2015 / 2016 HSE workplace stats 

The HSE has released provisional figures indicating that 144 people were killed while at work in 2015/2016 – up from 142 in 2014/5.

The figures have been broken down to key sectors:

• 43 workers deaths in construction
• 27 deaths in agriculture
• 27 deaths in manufacturing
• 6 deaths in waste and recycling
• 41 in various other sectors

There was a further 103 deaths for members of the public connected to work in 2015/16.

Although these may seem high compared with other statistics available for the rest of Europe the UK to be one of the safest places to work.

Mesothelioma, one of the few work related diseases where deaths can be counted directly, contracted through past exposure to asbestos killed 2,515 in Great Britain in 2014 compared to 2,556 in 2013.

A more detailed assessment of the data will be provided as part of the annual Health and Safety Statistics release in early November.

Further information on these statistics can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm

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CHAS new E form Process

In 2016 CHAS have introduced a new system where you can apply for your CHAS direct on their online portal. Previously you were only able to pay online and had to submit your documents separately.

The online E form Process is not available for groups or for other members of the SSIP umbrella group they need to contact chas.admin@chas.co.uk. You will also need to use the old way of applying if you a Designers or Principal Designer.

The new  process is different as you will need to pay for your CHAS on submission. Before you start your application you need to make sure you have everything you need to hand in electronic format:

• Examples of Risk assessments and Method Statements in situ on previous jobs
• COSHH Assessments specific to your business
• Evidence of Health & Safety Training specific to your business and employees
• Evidence of Contractor Management & Competence Assessment
• plus other necessary documents
• valid payment method

Once you have everything in place start the process by clicking here:

CHAS

Once you have made payment your application will  be assigned to an assessor and they will login and commence the assessment. The assessment can take up to 10 working days and this can result in a pass or feedback requiring more information. All updates will be sent to you via the E Forms system.

The assessment process remains the same whereby, if more information is needed you will need to provide this to get your certificate.

Using the E Forms system means that once you have been passed by the assessor a confirmation letter and an electronic copy of your certificate will be uploaded to your account.  You will then receive a hard copy of the certificate & accreditation pack post within 10 working days.

If you are unsure if you have the right information or would like some support to complete the accreditation please get in touch.

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