SSIP – Our most commonly failed questions

If you’re working with clients who require SSIP accreditation then you may have stumbled across some of these issues yourself, if you’re new to SSIP but are required to have one to work on a particular site or just to simply show your businesses health and safety compliance – we have a few things you may want to consider before you start which will help you with the process.

Here is a list of the most common issues people find when they apply for a SMAS SSIP accreditation and how you can make sure they don’t delay you in gaining your certificate.

H&S Policy & H&S Policy Statement

Q1 / 1A

  • The company name must match what is on your application and Companies House (if relevant – i.e. Limited; LLP company).
  • The statement must be signed (either digitally or physically) and dated within the last 12 months.
  • Legislations must be in date and correct.
  • If your organisation has 5 or more personnel (directly employed + Labour Only individuals), a full policy will be required.
  • Businesses are also now required to make sure there is mention of COVID-19 in either their policy or within the risk assessment which is Q5a.

Workforce H&S Qualifications

Q10

  • If they are undertaking a trade (i.e. Carpentry & Joinery; Brickwork; Electrical etc.), providing a sample of the trade qualifications will reduce the need to provide them later.
  • If you are undertaking a low-risk trade (i.e. Cleaning; Painting & decorating etc.) be sure to include the relevant H&S training (i.e. Manual Handling; COSHH Awareness; Working at Height etc. as appropriate). – Be sure to provide H&S training and within a reasonable time frame (i.e. 3-5 years).
  • Additional training relevant to your trade (i.e. If you are using MEWPS or Mobile access towers, a sample of the appropriate qualifications/training is provided (PASMA / IPAF).

Method Statements

Q5

  • Be sure to include a sequence of works that defines how the individual tasks are undertaken.
  • They should be site-specific, trade relevant and in the correct company name as well as dated within the last 12 months.
  • Be mindful of references to legislation to ensure they are in date and correct. This includes any pictograms that may be out of date, such as those covered within CHIP Regulations.

H&S Training and information

Q7

  • A training matrix or record should include a list of personnel along with their relevant training/qualifications.
  • Any personnel not included on the matrix should be noted as to why they are not included (i.e. office-based; administration staff etc.).
  • Listing the appropriate CSCS / CPCS / NPORS etc. details (if held) (card numbers, expiry dates etc.) can assist in reducing the amount of information requested by an assessor at a later stage.
  • A training matrix should also reflect the numbers on the application at the time of submission.

COSHH Assessments

Q6

  • Ensure the COSHH assessments contain the in-date CLP regulation symbols instead of the outdated CHIP regulation symbols.
  • Be sure you are aware of substances that may surround your trade, for example, silica dust and wood dust for electricians. Just because you may not be using paints, solvents etc. doesn’t mean that COSHH doesn’t apply to your organisation.
  • Ensure the COSHH assessments are relevant to your trade and are dated within the last 12 months.

If you have any further question, please give us a call on 01752 697370 and ask to speak to one of our in-house assessors. They will take a look at your application and give you free help and advice on the stages you need to take in order to pass and gain your accreditation.

 

PQQ:

Worksafe PQQ is now included as part of our standard SSIP assessment which allows you to show clients your compliance in other areas such as anti-bribery and corruption and environmental issues but using the self-upload tool to add any documentation to support the further areas.

 

SMAS Worksafe PQQ Wheel

 

Worksafe PQQ?

You may wish to take your compliance even further and you can do this with our Worksafe PQQ package which will give your business extra help and support in getting and maintaining compliance as well as making sure that areas such as Quality Management and Environmental are up to the required standard.

If you are a SMAS Worksafe PPQ member, clients such as Redrow will be able to see this and it could help your business stand out from others when they’re using the SMAS Client Portal to look for contractors.