The difference between Safety Advisor and Competent Person

The main difference between a safety advisor and a competent person within your business (eg someone who seems themselves as competent) is that the safety advisor needs to be qualified to at least NEBOSH or IOSH standards.

A competent person may be competent at running a construction site but not the health and safety management of the site, unless they have the above qualifications.

When a business has more than five employees, health and safety legislation states the company must employ a competent person who is competent in health and safety. A person who is competent in the health and safety management of the business. This person will hold health and safety qualifications such as NEBOSH or IOSH.

Ensuring you have the right level of support and advice for your Health & Safety is a bit of a mine field and can be defined simply by the number of employees you have.

Less than 5 employees = Safety Advisor

This service is where you are offered support and advice when needed, this tends to be a one of payment where you will be given a service agreement, certificate and a CV to show the qualifications of the person who is providing you with the advice. Paperwork such as off the shelf risk assessments and risk assessments and Method statements would be provided on an as and when basis should you need them.

More than 5 employees = Safety Competent Person

This service is where you pay a monthly retainer fee for continued support and advice should you need it. This service is where your consultant becomes part of your business and should be informed of anything that changes within the organisation. In this service you will be provided with a full Safety Management System including full Health & Safety Policy, Equal opportunities policy and Staff handbook. Your consultant will be on hand to be the link between you and the HSE should this ever be necessary.

Whilst not every company is black and white like this the rule of thumb tends to be the details above. You may be asked by a client to prove you have a dedicated support for Health & Safety resource as well as a policy with less than 5 employees if that is the case you would need fall outside of the rule.

If you are not sure about your personal circumstances please call 0800 031 5404 during working hours or complete the form using this link. We are happy to go through everything with you.

Complimentary Safety Advisor Service

Discover our Complimentary Safety Advisor Service that supports clients during their accreditation process and beyond.

Here at Seguro we pride ourselves on adding value to our services. When we help our clients to achieve an accreditation we also provide them with a Safety Advisory service.

This is where we remain as their contact throughout the year of their accreditation to help them to:

• Implement the new documentation into their business
• Provide support ongoing should they need it.
• Provide off the shelf risk assessments and method statements should they be needed (bespoke ones are chargeable)
• Enable our clients to name us should they need to on PQQ documentation

The following accreditations are eligible (less than 5 employees)

• CHAS
• Safe Contractor
• Constructionline
• Exor
• Altius
• Avetta
• Builders Profile

If you are looking for any help in acquiring an accreditation and would like to take advantage of our complimentary service please get in touch on 0800 031 5404 or contact us

What is SSIP Deem to Satisfy?

Deem to satisfy allows you to obtain an SSIP certificate from a supplier other than the supplier from which you obtained your SSIP certificate.

For example, you can apply for a Constructionline certificate without going through a new accreditation process if you have a CHAS certificate.

You can save money using deem to satisfy; for example, if you have a CHAS and wish to renew, you can renew with a more economical supplier and still get your CHAS certificate through the deem to satisfy system.

All member schemes listed on the SSIP forum adhere to the SSIP Core Criteria, backed by the Health and Safety Executive.

By mutually recognising each other’s schemes, suppliers benefit from only needing to complete one assessment, while buyers enjoy more efficient procurement processes. This approach reduces costs and has saved over £68 million since 2016.

Registered Members

Two-Way Deem to Satisfy between SSIP Registered Members

Approval with a Registered Member can only be used to Deem to Satisfy with another Registered Member; it cannot be used to gain a Deem to Satisfy with a Certification Body Member.

Below is the list of registered members you can use for deem to satisfy:

3Core2 Certification Limited Trading As SafeArb SafeArb

Achilles Information Ltd Building Confidence

Alcumus SafeContractor Ltd Alcumus Safecontractor

Altius VA Limited CDMComply

Arboricultural Association ARB Approved Contractor

Association for Project Safety APS Corporate Practice Membership

Avetta Avetta Assessed

CHAS 2013 Ltd Contractors Health & Safety Scheme

Construction Safety Solutions PASS

CQMS Ltd CQMS Safety-Scheme

D W Health & Safety DW Health & Safety Contractor Competency Scheme

Fall Arrest Safety Equipment Training Ltd FASET Membership Audit

Fortius Ltd Acclaim Accreditation

Greenlight Safety Assessment Scheme Ltd Greenlight Safety Assessment Scheme

Hire Association Europe Ltd SafeHire Certification Scheme

International Powered Access Federation [IPAF] IPAF SSIP

MSL Property Care Services Ltd MSL Safepartner

National Access & Scaffolding Confederation Ltd NASC SSIP Audit

National Federation of Demolition Contractors NFDC Membership

PQS Pre-Qualification Scheme PQS Health & Safety Approved

Salus Certification Salus Certification

Safe-T-Cert [NI] {Construction Employers Federation} Safe-T-Cert

Safe-T-Cert [ROI] {Construction Industry Federation} Safe-T-Cert

Safety Management Advisory Services Ltd SMAS Worksafe

SSG Training and Consultancy Ltd SSG Assessed

William Martin Compliance Limited Prosure 360

We can support you if you are not sure what to do.

Do you need a Fire Risk Assessment?

1. Who’s responsible

If you’re an landlord, business owner, occupier, or other non-domestic premises, you’ll be the person responsible for fire safety. You’re known as the ‘responsible person’. The Fire Safety Order also applies if you run a bed and breakfast, guesthouse or let a self-catering property as you have paying guests.

Responsibilities

As the responsible person you must:

• carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly
• tell staff or their representatives about the risks you’ve identified
• put in place, and maintain, appropriate fire safety measures
• plan for an emergency
• provide staff information, fire safety instruction and training

Non-domestic premises

Non-domestic premises are:

• all workplaces and commercial premises
• all premises the public have access to
• the common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings

2. Fire risk assessments

As the responsible person you must carry out and regularly review a fire risk assessment of the premises. This will identify what you need to do to prevent fire and keep people safe.

You’ll need to consider:

• emergency routes and exits
• fire detection and warning systems
• fire fighting equipment
• the removal or safe storage of dangerous substances
• an emergency fire evacuation plan
• the needs of vulnerable people, eg the elderly, young children or those with disabilities
• providing information to employees and other people on the premises
• staff fire safety training

Help with the assessment

You can do the fire risk assessment yourself with the help of standard fire safety advice documents.

You’ll need to appoint a ‘competent person’ to help, eg a professional risk assessor, if you don’t have the expertise or time to do the fire risk assessment yourself.

Your local fire and rescue authority might be able to give you advice if you’re not sure your risk assessment’s been carried out properly. However, they can’t carry out risk assessments for you.

Why use Seguro for your CHAS Accreditation?

We supply bespoke documentation to help complete the sections needed for CHAS as well as a dedicated consultant for you to contact at any time through the process.

We help you to submit all the documentation on the CHAS online portal providing you with a step by step guide for your involvement.

We have over 25 years’ experience in the industry and successfully complete over 900 applications every year. Our job is to make your life easier letting you focus on your business.

Call us now on 0800 031 5404 or send us a quotation request, we will reply within the same working day.

Completing a PQQ can seem Daunting

Here are out Top Ten tips for completing a PQQ, there are lots of sections and information about your company that you may not have had to think about before. Submitting a good PQQ doesn’t mean it will be a winning PQQ but it does mean you have a much better chance if you have shown you have taken the time to complete it properly.

It goes without saying a good PQQ has no errors or information missing and that you have answered all questions as fully as you can.

We have compiled a handy top ten tips list that should should help:

Top Tips

1. Read the PQQ fully as the beginning so you can understand what is required of you.
2. When putting the PQQ together take it one question at a time.
3. Always provide evidence and supporting documentation when asked for.
4. Ensure your answers focus on the requirements set out in the specification and evaluation criteria.
5. Provide all of the information requested. If you cannot provide some of the information, for whatever reason, ask for advice or as a minimum give a reason for not providing the information so they know you have not just skipped that section.
6. Where relevant, cross-reference the answers or responses in your PQQ to the questions as this will make it easier to evaluate.
7. Be clear on your pricing model and state any assumptions you have made when pricing. This will enable the assessor to see the reasons you may be more expensive or indeed cheaper.
8. The assessor can only evaluate what you have submitted. The assessor cannot refer to any previous knowledge or experience it has had with you unless it is in your submission
9. Make sure you are aware of the objective of the contract – this will help focus your submission.
10. Don’t be put off by the PQQ documentation – you can always ask for help.

A must for every PQQ is that you complete and return the document by the deadline and in the correct format that has been requested. Failure to do that simple thing could mean your PQQ isn’t even looked at.

If you still feel you need some help after reading our Top Ten tips for completing a PQQ we are more than happy to see if there is anything we can do.

Get in touch with us via our General PQQ submission.

What are the benefits of using Elearning?

There are a number of benefits to Elearning whether you choose to use it on its own, or to enhance any existing in house training you may provide.

It saves time and is cost effective

Instead of having to arrange a training session at a set time and place you can carry out Elearning at a time and place that suits you. This helps to reduce the time taken away from the office, removes travel costs and increases workplace productivity.

Learning with 24/7 access

Many traditional training courses operate within normal 9-5 office hours. Meaning you and your staff have to leave your jobs and take time out of the office to attend. This can also mean additional hassle of travel to and from the venue. Most Elearning courses have an average completion time of an hour, and CPD approved courses allow once completed, to print out certificates of proof.

It’s discreet

Not every employee will feel comfortable learning in a large group. We all learn at different speeds and levels and may find some topics harder to understand than others. Elearning allows your staff to learn on their own and to tackle the subject at their own pace.  The interactive tasks that are set ensure a thorough understanding throughout each module.

If your looking for any Health & Safety Elearning courses we have some that you may be interested in.