Leading construction group backs new competence initiative

Leading health and safety professionals have welcomed a new initiative to help small to medium sized construction companies save time, effort and money when it comes to pitching for new work.

The Safety Schemes in Procurement Competence Forum (SSIP), which has the backing of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is a new umbrella body formed by businesses which provide accreditation services to the construction industry. They have come together to support SMEs to demonstrate they are competent in health and safetyÖ and avoid the waste of unnecessary paperwork involved in prequalifying for new contracts.

A new website launching the forum was unveiled in Edinburgh, this week, at InterConstruct í09, organised by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

The Forumís arrangements for mutual recognition are closely based on proposals put forward by independent research funded by HSE. They will mean that any client wishing to procure the services of a business which has achieved accreditation, can be confident that a reasonable and robust judgement has been made that the requirements of CDM 2007 have been met at the first, or prequalification stage, of procurement.

ìI very much welcome this new initiative to help small and medium sized business in construction, in particular, avoid the waste of unnecessary paperwork involved in prequalifying for work,î said John Lacey, Chairman of the IOSH Construction Group.

ìIt will help those businesses demonstrate they are competent in health and safety and represents a positive step forward for supply chain management in construction,î he went on.

ìThe great achievement of the SSIP is that it has agreed arrangements that, wherever practicable, mutual recognition can be provided between schemes. Industry can have confidence that the process of accreditation or registration carried out by a member scheme will be consistent and fit for purpose.

ìThe Forum may not provide all the answers but itís certainly a very positive start. Its introduction will mean small businesses tendering for work will only have to complete one set of prequalification documents to meet the Stage 1 requirements of a very wide range of construction clients.î

Clients must be aware, however, that before proceeding to engage an accredited business to carry out construction work for them, a further Stage 2 assessment – project or job specific –is needed. Undertaking this Stage 2 assessment will be the responsibility of the client. Possession of an SSIP accreditation, on its own, cannot be taken as a full assessment of competence for the business to start work.

A simple example of how effective this initiative can be in terms of saving money is illustrated in the last financial year. An SSIP member registered 1715 registrations without assessment because of their ëdeem to satisfyí agreement with another SSIP member. Based on a (conservative) average of four hours taken to complete the application by the contractor, and its assessment by the client, savings in the order of 6,860 hours work were avoided – if the cost per person hour is say 25, this amounts to (non-cashable) savings of 171,000 for those involved.