Reducing duplication, improving health and safety compliance
Tuesday 5 April 2011
With special thanks to Constructionline, Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) and National House-Building Council (NHBC) for
sponsoring this event
Welcome and Introductions
Chair, Paul ReeveHead of Health and Safety and
Environment at the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA)
SSIP: Realising the benefits
Paul Morrell Chief Construction Adviser at the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
SSIP: Its Successes, its Future
Philip WhiteConstruction Chief Inspector at the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Successes of SSIP in 2010/11• Growth in member schemes and in
numbers assessed• Growth in influence through clients• Integration with PAS 91• Launch of the IRCA Certification scheme
for assessors• Solid development of the processes
behind SSIP, to ensure independent scrutiny, and integrity of operation
The future depends on common understanding
Key messages for 2011• For Clients• For Contractors• For the industry
Clients• SSIP is not:
– All you need to do before engaging a contractor – a Stage 2 process is always required
• SSIP is:– A proportionate method of meeting the need for
a health and safety assessment at the prequalification stage
– A means of reducing duplication through mutual recognition
– A means of ensuring a consistent standard of assessment
Contractors• SSIP is not:
– Something you need to engage a consultant to do for you
• SSIP is:– A method of desktop assessment of your health
and safety arrangements which is sensitive to the needs of SMEs, and resource effective
– A framework which ensures that if you pass an assessment from one member, this will be accepted by the others
– Audited annually by independent auditors
The Industry• SSIP is not:
– Just another money making scheme• SSIP is:
– About improving health and safety on site– Targeting the many SMEs, not the few majors– Innovating. In partnership with IRCA, the new
Assessor Certification scheme brings strength and consistency to the assessment process
– Simplifying - simply specify SSIP or equivalent as a stage one prequalification criteria for health and safety
SSIP and the International Register of Certificated
Auditors’ (IRCA) assessor training
David RileyDirector, JAD Associates (Improvement
Solutions) Ltd and
Alan JohnsonAccredited Assessor
Project Scope• Contracted in June 2010 by HSE to develop
an SSIP Assessor Certification Scheme:– SSIP Assessor Competence Set– SSIP Assessor Training Course– SSIP Assessor Certification Scheme
• SSIP Forum to operate as scheme committee
• IRCA SSIP Assessor scheme approved by SSIP and launched March 2011
IRCA SSIP Assessor Certification
• SSIP Provisional Assessor
• SSIP Assessor
• SSIP Reviewer
IRCA SSIP Assessor Certification
• Education (pre-requisite)– At least secondary + NEBOSH certificate
• Work Experience (pre-requisite)– Five years including 2 years relevant H&S
• Training– IRCA SSIP Assessor course: pass
• Assessment Experience– 10 assessments, at least 1 signed off by an
SSIP Reviewer
IRCA SSIP Assessor Certification
• Standardised training to ensure assessors are “Well Rounded”
• 1 day course covering – SSIP knowledge– CCS1 Knowledge– Typical Case Studies
• 45 minute examination, 70% pass mark
Process for Certification• Meet pre-requisite requirements• Pass training course• Become ‘Provisional SSIP Assessor’• Gain assessment experience / sign off by Reviewer• Become ‘SSIP Assessor’ • Received Certification Card and IRCA website entry• Recertification after three years dependent on CPD
and ongoing assessment experience
Contact• Registered office
address:International Register of Certificated Auditors12 Grosvenor CrescentLondon SW1X 7EEUnited Kingdom
• Web: www.irca.org• Email:
• Thank you David…. There are a number of benefits
for SSIP to be gained from this training. It will:-
• Improve the consistency of assessments, and ensure that all assessors have a more formalised structure to assess towards.
Benefits of the IRCA training
Benefits of the IRCA training
• Provide a common thread throughout all participating SSIP organisations & assessors.
• Raise stakeholder confidence.• Reduce duplication of training.• Provide additional recognised
qualification for assessors which in turn will help to maintain professionalism and competence.
Benefits of the IRCA training
Overall I personally feel that the involvement of IRCA as a recognised and independent Audit body is a very positive step forwards for the SSIP.
Benefits of the IRCA training
However as the training shows us the real key to quality assessing is the experience of the assessors – this is not something that the training alone can give us.
I know from personal experience that if this training had been available when I started to undertake assessments it would have been a real benefit to me.
Benefits of the IRCA training
The training is a good way of developing / honing and refreshing the soft skills necessary in carrying out the stage 1 audits.
It also reminds us as assessors of the need to carry out our activities with the upmost professionalism – and perhaps to just remember that there is a person on the receiving end of our probing.
Benefits of the IRCA training
There are a few areas where the assessor needs to remain extremely vigilant, and the training does point out and cover some of these areas including:-
Benefits of the IRCA training
• Falsified documentation
Received JUNE 2010
This is just one example, due to time constraints I cannot show any more but I get many different types of tampered doc’s every year - which nearly always end up with a clear assessment failure.
Benefits of the IRCA training
• Falsified documentation• Documents not embedded into the
company (or actually belonging to them).• Packs of blank forms.• Off the shelf applications (we guarantee
you 100% pass type organisations).• Very old or out of date documents. Electricity (Factories Act) Special Regulations
1904 ?!?!
This additional and independent training is going to help all SSIP member organisations.
We as assessors can only evaluate the evidence & documentation provided at the time (Stage 1 assessment), which is why:-
The subsequent stage 2 checks are still key to fully adequate contractor control (the stage 1 is not the end of the story).
Summary
