Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Do you have a H&S exemption certificate or third party SSIP certificate?

A SSIP assessment is conducted by a member scheme (such as SafeContractor) to evaluate how your business manages health and safety.

This will include looking at your:

• Health and safety policy
• Risk assessments and method statements
• Competent advice
• Insurances
• Evidence of training
• Trade qualifications
• Any health and safety infringements

SSIP aim to reduce the duplication of effort for contractors who want to submit tenders for client projects that require a health and safety accreditation, or for those that want to gain multiple certificates from different schemes. This saves you time and money as you don’t need to complete the assessments multiple times.

 

Do you have a health and safety policy and are you able to demonstrate arrangements/procedures for ensuring that your H&S measures are effective in reducing/preventing incidents, occupational ill-health and accidents?

 

Yes / No 

 

If yes: 

Please upload a PDF version of your of you H&S safety policy (2mb) limit 

if the file is to big please have a look at our document upload guide.

 

If No:
please consider writing and maintaining a health and safety policy as this is a mandatory document.

 

If your company has 5 or less people you may not need a H&S policy however you will need to sign our Health and Safety Policy Statement (please find attached to this article. Once Signed Please return to [e-mail]

 

Do you have access to competent H&S advice/assistance - both general and transport sector related?

 

Yes / No (no documents required)

 

Do you have a policy and process for providing your staff with training and information to ensure your staff have the appropriate qualifications and experience sufficient to implement the type of services for which your organization is likely to provide?

 

Yes / No (no documents required)

 

The law obliges employers to consider the health and safety capabilities of people when they give them tasks to do, and to ensure that they are properly trained before being exposed to risks in the workplace.

Do you check, review and where necessary improve your H&S performance?

Yes / No (no documents required)

It is important to update your H&S policy when required and we promote taking the initiative and doing this primitively when required.

 

Do you have procedures in place to involve your staff in the planning and implementation of H&S measures?

Yes / No (no documents required)

an example of this would be improvement meetings / workshops or specified team huddles

 

Do you conduct accident/incident reporting and undertake follow-up investigation?

Yes / No (no documents required)

 

Reporting certain incidents is a legal requirement.

The report informs the enforcing
authorities (HSE, local authorities and the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR)) about
deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences, so they can
identify where and how risks arise, and whether they need to be investigated. This

 

Do you operate a process of risk assessment capable of supporting safe methods of work and reliable project delivery where necessary?

Yes / No (no documents required)

 

Do you have arrangements for ensuring that welfare provision meets legal requirements and the needs/expectations of your employees?

Yes / No (no documents required)

 

Welfare provisions include but are not limited to suitable restrooms, canteen area with seating, break area, and a source for fresh air out with building. 

 

 

Are all drivers issued with a Drivers Handbook? (including part-time, agency and owner drivers)

If Yes:
Please upload your currently used drivers handbook

 

Do you have a policy relating to drivers who have been reported for unsafe behaviour, such as speeding or other road traffic offences?

 

 

Do you have a Drugs and Alcohol Policy?

If Yes:
Please upload the drugs and alcohol policy you currently use.

If No: 
Drug and alcohol policies are mandatory.

 

If your company has 5 or less people you may not need a Drugs and Alcohol policy however you will need to sign our Drugs and Alcohol Policy Statement (please find attached to this article.) Once Signed Please return to [e-mail]

 

Do you have written policies relating to the use of mobile phones, in-car data equipment or satellite navigation systems whilst driving?

 

Please find attached a template for mobile phone usage to be signed. Once Signed Please return to [e-mail]

 

Driver Training (Including Part Time, Casual and Agency Staff)

Are drivers given update training/information with regard to changes in legislation which is recorded?

 

Advice at bottom of section

Does the company have a vehicle familiarisation procedure, keeping documentary evidence on file of training given to drivers on various types of vehicle within the fleet including leased vehicles? 

(coaches only) 

 

Advice at bottom of section

Do drivers receive Safety Training which is recorded in the drivers file?

 

Advice at bottom of section

Do drivers receive Safe Driver Skills Training recorded in the drivers file?

 

Advice at bottom of section

 

 

 

It is essential to check what experience individuals have of the vehicles they will be using and the work they will be doing and, where appropriate, to check that the information they give is true, for example, employers will usually need to check that references to training schemes etc are supported by certificates.

It is likely that training will need to cover:

• General information about the job, for example route layouts, or how to report risks or accidents.
• Training and/or checks to ensure that people can work safely. For a driver this is likely to include:
  • Making sure they know how to operate the vehicle safely
  • Information about particular dangers, speed limits, parking and loading areas and procedures etc.
  • It may be necessary to test trainees on site, even when they produce evidence of previous training or related work experience. Always check that trainees understand what they have been advised.
• Information about how supervision and penalties will be applied.
• An ongoing programme of training and refresher training will usually be necessary for all drivers and other employees, to ensure their continued competence in a changing workplace.
• Keep training records for each employee.
• Consider keeping a central register of whom in your workplace is competent to control which vehicle. This will make safely allocating tasks and keeping track of abilities much easier.