SSIP Accreditation Support
SSIP accreditation made simple
Accreditation schemes can often seem complex, overbearing and hard to interpret and this can often be seen as a barrier to organisations starting or continuing their journey towards certification.
Tamar Safety offer a range of services that can support organisations from simple explanaitions of terms, gap analysis and providing template documents.
What is SSIP?
Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) is an umbrella organisation in which members provide health and safety assessment schemes to contractors working in the supply chain to demonstrate compliance with safety practices to potential clients.
SSIP Accreditations are recognised across the UK and were designed to save contractors time when tendering for work with clients. Rather than completing several health & safety assessments for different clients, SSIP streamlined the tendering process by enabling all contractors and buyers to follow a closely related framework and reduce costs for contractors by removing the need for multiple application costs.
Tamar Safety SSIP support
The scale of our support packages are relative to the size of your businesses and this will be reflected in our fees. To support you with your SSIP assessment our service includes:
Office hours telephone and email assistance
A suite of H&S documents adapted to suit your specific needs and branded with your company logo
Support with uploading documentation and evidence to the SSIP Member server and explanatory questions
Conduct an annual review of key documentation and your management system
Act as your competent health and safety advisor from the day of appointment for a minimum period of 12 months thereafter
The SSIP core criteria
To gain your certificate your business must be able to show that you meet the core criteria. All SSIP member schemes will require this information from you and below you can see a breakdown of what areas you will need to meet.
Health & Safety policy and organisation for Health & Safety
Arrangements
Competent advice – corporate and construction-related
Training and information
Individual qualifications and experience
Monitoring, audit and review
Workforce involvement
Accident reporting and enforcement action; follow up investigation
Sub-contracting /consulting procedures (if applicable)
Risk assessment leading to a safe system of work
Co-operating with others and coordinating your work with that of other contractors
Welfare provision
More information on SSIP
What is SSIP?
SSIP stands for Safe Schemes in Procurement and is a set of health and safety assessment criteria used by many construction clients and principal contractors in the UK to evaluate the competence and performance of contractors and subcontractors in terms of their health and safety management systems.
SSIP helps suppliers to save time and reduce costs to allow them to concentrate more on their jobs instead of worrying about obtaining multiple health and safety certifications. Contractors and subcontractors who have been assessed and accredited by an SSIP member scheme can demonstrate their compliance with health and safety standards to a range of construction clients, reducing the need for multiple assessments and paperwork.
What does SSIP accreditation mean?
Obtaining SSIP accreditation demonstrates to a buyer that the supplier is competent in health and safety practices and procedures, and therefore a business that is safe to work with. Accreditation from an SSIP scheme is also mutually recognised by all other SSIP members. As such, accreditation from one SSIP member is sufficient to meet the criteria of the other members; thus, suppliers only require accreditation from one SSIP scheme, preventing the requirement to perform multiple health and safety assessments.
What are the benefits of undertaking an SSIP assessment?
All SSIP assessments are based on the SSIP Core Criteria; therefore, holding a valid SSIP accreditation demonstrates compliance to the specified Health and Safety standards which are in line with the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 and its applicable substantive Regulations.
There are many benefits to business undertaking a SSIP assessment, which include:
Less paperwork
Safety performance improvements
Increase in reputation
Consistency
Cost-efficient
Which SSIP accreditation do I need?
Clients will demand different accreditations based on their individual needs and if you are unsure where to start, you need to determine which accreditation will open the most doors for your business once you are accredited, depending on what type of work or tendering opportunities you are looking for.
Who are the main SSIP members?
There are many SSIP members, including (but not limited to) the following:
Achilles
Avetta
Acclaim
Eurosafe UK
'Deem to satisfy'
All members of SSIP recognise each other’s Health & Safety Assessments and Standards, so generally you should only ever have to be accredited by one SSIP member to be accepted by them all. Therefore, if you already hold a valid SSIP assessment then you can apply for what is known as a ‘Deem to Satisfy’ assessment with a secondary assessment provider.