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Steve there is a few of us SAFEcontractor accredited on this site, Gary RK and myself being two of them, happy to help you get through it. It is a process but the staff at SAFEcontractor are also very helpful.
regards
to be a safe contractor do any member of their staff come out and check if you are a safe contractor or do you just fill the forms out, pay the membership fee, and along come the certificate to say you are a safe contractor.
i only ask because i am not a member of any of these organisations other than having public liability ins and waste licence, for the simple reason being a couple of years ago i had a company call me and ask if i would like to join their organisation as they have been out and checked my work and i was up to thier standard. i cant remember their name now, but when i ask them for the addresses where they looked at my work i was told it was confidential, they just wanted me to pay their fee and get a certificate and a few stickers for my van
As Brian said, were happy to help (in fact just gone thru my review).
What's important is access to their template library (ie on the website or on CD Rom).
Most of the questions can be answered by selecting the nearest policy template, adapting to suit your 'business' and then ensureing procedures are in place to follow them.
Also, make sure you are only registered for the work types you ACTUALLY want to do. It's easy to tick a few extra boxes as it sounds a good idea, but this can lead to a massive amout of paperwork.
It's bit like iso9001 - in that you define what you want to do, then write procedures to cover it and then follow it and document you have followed it.
One typical exampel will be a training matrix. Does not matter too much what the training is, but you must show it took place, when it took place, what the qualification was and when its due for renewal.
The same applies for mchinery maintenacne. Got to show you do it, how you do, recording you'ev done it and proving all that to them.
Once you get into the swing, its not too bad ...honest
I may be jaded and a little synical but having worked on site for years with cpcs tickets for telehandler, 360 and mobile crane i could not for the life of me imagine why anyone would want to invite h+s inspectors into their world, you may think you work in a safe way and never had an accident in your working life but these people are so anal about stuff they make some trades virtually un workable.
generally accepted rules on site now include:-
gloves / vest / hard hat / safety glasses to be worn constantly whenerver on site, even working in a feild on your own, exept you cant work on your own, thats against the the rules
Full harness and lanyard (?) on first scafold lift, ie. damp course height, approx 6".
gloves, goggles, mask, ear deffenders, plus hat and vest to mix mortor in mixer.
add this to H+S policies, meathod statements, risk assesments, accident books, evidence of "tool box talks" to staff, cosh certificates for every chemical you use . . . . etc etc etc
trust me it is a very slippery slope best avoided at all costs, by far the best thing about working for myself and small domestic contractors is the lack of H+S bo**ox, being able to work to my own common sence.
just my opinion, but you can not believe how rediculous the whole thing can get.
If you want to stay Residential fine, but to gain access to profitable commercial work you need such accreditation
I don't find it onerous, but it depends on your attitude to business and whether you want to grow.
Don't knock until you've tried it and seen the contracts and £'s comming in :-0)
We all know that we get paid every month due to contracts. No worrying where the next paycheck is comming from.
In this day and age - worth a mint mate - but totally accept you views.
are you talking about working for commercial customers, or working on site for cscs domestic construction firms.
its the costruction side of things i am well chuffed to be rid of.
every year the rules get tighter and tighter.
Hi gary
Where can i access their template libary?
I know its a case of getting my head round it, but i was shocked at how much H&S questions there was on the initial Q&A.
Gary RK said:
Totally agree gary
As we have discussed in the past, to gain access to commercial customers who are offering the commercial contracts, they like to see you are compliant with H&S rules and regs and that you are a responsible contractor.
I tried tendering for a couple of contracts at the end of last year and realised gaining an award for safe contractor will greatly help in 1) filling in paper work PQQ`s and 2) make you look more professional.
After all, its another string to your bow!
Gary RK said:
Steve,
absolutely do not get phased by it all. Its one of those all encompassing questionnaires that seem worse than they are.
Will send link by PM
Steve Wilkinson said:
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