Reducing duplication, improving health and safety compliance

1. 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

2. Welcome and Introductions Chair, Paul Reeve Head of Health and Safety and Environment at the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA)

3. SSIP: Realising the benefits Paul Morrell Chief Construction Adviser at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)

4. SSIP: Its Successes, its Future Philip White Construction Chief Inspector at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

5. 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

6. The future depends on common understanding Key messages for 2011 • For Clients • For Contractors • For the industry

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. SSIP and the International Register of Certificated Auditors’ (IRCA) assessor training David Riley Director, JAD Associates (Improvement Solutions) Ltd and Alan Johnson Accredited Assessor

11. 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

12. IRCA SSIP Assessor Certification • SSIP Provisional Assessor • SSIP Assessor • SSIP Reviewer

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Contact • Registered office address:International Register of Certificated Auditors12 Grosvenor CrescentLondon SW1X 7EEUnited Kingdom • Web: www.irca.org • Email: dhaste@irca.org

17. Benefits of the IRCA training • 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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:-

23. Benefits of the IRCA training • Falsified documentation

24. 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.

25. 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 ?!?!

26. Summary 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).