CHAS - Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme
- Do you need to make a CHAS application to get a tender list?
- Are you unsure about how to become CHAS accredited, CHAS Compliant of CHAS registered?
- Are you worried about the high failure rates (currently 80%) for those making CHAS applications?
- Do you need help with your CHAS application and CHAS registration?
- Do you want to tender for contracts with your local council or main contractor that requires you to be CHAS compliant or CHAS accredited
- Are you unsure if you have the documentation required by CHAS for assessment?
- Have you already failed your CHAS assessment?
- Are you confused by the difference between CHAS registration, CHAS compliant and CHAS accredited?
- Do you want professional assistance with your CHAS application?
If you have answered YES to any of the above questions, then you need to call The Safety Consultancy Co. as we offer a complete CHAS assessment and CHAS application service for Companies and Organisations looking to register with CHAS or submit a CHAS application with a view to becoming CHAS compliant or CHAS accredited.
The Safety Consultancy Co. are a firm of professional competent Health and Safety Consultants, we work for Companies all sizes from sole traders to large national Contractors specialising in the small to medium sized business. All of our CHAS consultancy services are tailored specifically to your Organisation and the way that you work, AND we will also continue to work with you, advising and assisting you on all health and safety matters long after your CHAS assessment has been completed. This is all done for a fixed fee with no hidden extras, unlike other Consultants we will not charge you travelling time, accommodation costs or substantial additional fees for acting as your competent person or Safety Advisors. As CHAS themselves recommend, shop around when looking for a Consultant, we are confident that our prices and quality of service are the best you will find, try us - you won’t be disappointed.
For more information about making a CHAS application and becoming a CHAS registered or CHAS compliant Contractor, call our CHAS Helpline today:
01204 885588
CHAS is a government run (not for profit) scheme administered by the London Borough of Merton. CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) developed and refined over a number of years by local government health and safety and procurement professionals, with the support of the Health and Safety Executive. Although the CHAS scheme has been developed by government bodies, the CHAS scheme is available for use by any public and private sector Organisation as an aid when short listing Contractors, Suppliers and Consultants who apply to work for them. It provides information and assurances about the health and safety systems and competence of the Organisations who have been CHAS assessed or accredited.
Organisations apply to CHAS to become CHAS assessed, by doing so their potential Clients know that they meet minimum acceptable standards of health and safety compliance. Clients from both the public and private sectors use CHAS to make assessments of Contractors in this way. Once the CHAS application has been approved for an organisation, their details are uploaded to the CHAS database where Client members of CHAS can review Organisation's details and check that they are in fact CHAS registered. One of the benefits to Contractors is that by making successful CHAS application, they can demonstrate to a wide number of potential Clients that they achieve or exceed the minimum standards laid down by the CHAS scheme.
Furthermore with the implementation of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM), there are stricter requirements on Client and Principal Contractors to ensure that they only employ “Competent Contractors”. CHAS is however named in the CDM Regulations by the Health and Safety Executive as being one of the requirements that can be used when demonstrating your competence as an Organisation.
What Does CHAS Assess?
The CHAS assessment does not assess health and safety competence for specific types of work but concentrates on fundamental health and safety management and compliance issues as they apply to the work you undertake. The table below shows the main areas that will be assessed as part of your application, though in all cases documented evidence and examples have to be provided:
|
|
Full details of the assessment standards can be found on the following web page:
www.chas.gov.uk/chas/Downloads/AssessmentStandards.doc
What Are The Benefits Of CHAS Registration?
Membership & Registration of CHAS can assist Contractors by:
- Demonstrating a level of compliance with Health and Safety Law (to assess competence);
- Avoids duplication of effort by reducing the need to submit multiple H&S Questionnaires to Clients;
- Overcomes inconsistency in assessments with some Contractors being assessed as complaint by one Employer but not others;
- Enabling the health and safety elements of Constructionline to be complied with.
How do I become CHAS Registered?
To become CHAS registered, you need to download a copy of the relevant application form from the CHAS website which can be found at the following location:
Once you have your CHAS application form you need to answer all of the various questions, provide evidence to support your answers and submit a wide range of documentation, including training certificates, your Health and Safety Policy, Risk Assessments, COSHH Assessments, Method Statements, Fire Risk Assessments, Manual Handling Assessments and other documentation. In addition to this you also have to provide details on your historic health and safety performance and details of where you obtain your health and safety advice, information and support from.
A Word Of Caution!
Although many see the CHAS assessment process as being easy and straightforward, this is usually far from the truth, in fact the failure rate for Contractors applying to CHAS currently stands at the incredibly high percentage of 80%- this is clearly stated on the CHAS website for all to see! We therefore strongly advise Organisations to think very carefully before making an application and as it clearly states on the front page of the CHAS form, those with responsibility for H&S should complete the form, if necessary The Safety Consultancy Co have significant experience in making successful CHAS applications on behalf of our clients.
How Can The Safety Consultancy Co. Help?
If you need to make a CHAS application make sure you call The Safety Consultancy Co. on 01204 885588 before doing so, we can reduce the burden and streamline your entire CHAS application by working with you to ensure that you have the necessary systems, procedures and documentation in place. We offer a full CHAS application service whereby we can complete your CHAS application form, review your existing documentation and provide you with any additional documentation that you may need to help you manage health and safety and demonstrate your competence to your CHAS assessor.
In addition to this, we can also advise you on any additional training requirements that you may need and act as your Competent Health and Safety Advisors, all of our services are offered on a fixed price non contractual basis.
For more information on our CHAS services, call us today on:
01204 885588
Or email us using our contact page.
www.safety-matters.co.uk