Would an accreditation scheme benefit my business?
As a contractor, you may be aware that there are various types of accreditation schemes, with CHAS (The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) being one of the most well-known. However, you may not fully understand what is required or how you will benefit by doing so.
Many accreditation schemes, such as CHAS, Safe Contractor and Constructionline help contractors demonstrate that they have high standards of health and safety. This reflects positively on your business and can help you gain greater opportunities when looking for work.
There are many different accrediting bodies to choose from. CHAS, Safe Contractor and Constructionline are some of the most well-known schemes. Ultimately it is up to you to decide which you would like to go for, as they have many similarities.
CHAS, Safe Contractor and Constructionlineare types of accreditation schemes that prove a business’s health and safety processes meet excellent standards. Qualified health and safety professionals carry out the assessments of a business’s documentation to confirm they’re fulfilling everything required by law.
What are the benefits of accreditation schemes?
As a contractor or subcontractor, receiving accreditation can benefit your work in various ways. It can help you to:
Show you’re trustworthy and committed.
Accreditation is a trust signal for many customers and clients, as it shows that your business complies with the law and follows best practice. It also demonstrates that you take your responsibilities seriously. Ultimately proving to others that you meet industry standards.
Improve work prospects.
Local Authorities often require their contractors to demonstrate they are professional and safety conscious. Accreditation demonstrates that your business meets these standards and therefore enables you to gain more work opportunities. Do speak to procurement departments within areas you wish to work to see if they have a preferred accreditation.Buyers often instruct their supply chain to register with an SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) member scheme. This gives the supplier the freedom of choice to choose any SSIP member scheme who can provide them with the best value for their company needs
Having accreditation can help you to start tendering work for yourself if you want to move on from being a subcontractor. The documentation process that is necessary to take ownership can be overwhelming but going through the process of gaining accreditation can help you understand all the key areas you need to cover.
Create evidence of health and safety compliance.
Acquiring accreditation requires you to provide comprehensive evidence of your safety procedures. By applying you will gain a stronger awareness of how important it is to create and retain this kind of documentation. This in turn helps you to prove due diligence and comply with the law.
Acquire further accreditation.
Once you have applied for one, if you felt you would like more, it’s easier to complete pre-qualification questionnaires and apply for another. This is beneficial because having multiple accreditations can make you stand out from other contractors.
Prove you’re compliant in other areas.
Within the accreditation schemes there is the opportunity to select accreditation packages, with some that assess more than a business’s health and safety. For example, the CHAS Common Assessment Standard also assesses anti-bribery and corporate social responsibility procedures as well as the 12 key areas of risk management. So, depending on the type you apply for, CHAS accreditation can also prove that your business is complying with other important legal requirements.
Optimum Safety has helped countless businesses gain accreditation. We can support you throughout the application process. The assessment requires you to submit evidence of all areas of your health and safety. Some of the most common types include the health and safety policy, risk assessments, method statements, insurance confirmation, records of maintenance and testing, records of health and safety inductions, details of your health and safety advisor, evidence of training and certification relevant to your works health and safety and any other relevant evidence of your health and safety procedures.
If you need a training course to support your application, we can help with this too as we have over 100 eLearning courses to choose from.
Timescales.
Having support from a trusted health and safety adviser really helps you feel prepared and confident in your application. They can offer advise that will save you time and enable a successful outcome. As you embark on gaining accreditation it’s important to consider the time you will need to compile all the relevant documentation. It can seem a daunting process, but Optimum Safety can support you throughout. Our clients have benefited from being able to demonstrate that they meet excellent standards, which makes them stand out from other contractors and has helped them gain greater work opportunities.
Once all the background work has been completed and the application has been submitted it takes on average 10 working days to receive a response. All being well it will be the desired outcome and accreditation will be granted.
For more information on gaining accreditations for your business contact the team office@optimum-safety.co.uk or call 01522 527544.
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