Posted By Paul A. Swift I am currently looking at tweaking our Contractor Questionnaires in line with Appendix 4 of the new ACOP. I would welcome any advice, as I am sure that most of you out there will have had a go at this at one time or another. My dilemma is keeping it as brief as possible while trying to tick all the boxes. Our existing questionnaire is long overdue a re-think, however we struggle to get people to complete the current 2 page document. My concern is that, by the time I have covered the areas within Appendix 4, and thrown in some additional environmental and quality topics for good measure, that it will be more like 8 pages. It is no good having a thorough document, if it never gets completed. Any ideas / suggestions / info on systems that work would be most appreciated.

Posted By Robert K Lewis Paul I have to say up front that I do not believe that the appendix really assesses competence of an organisation as it claims to do. The real issue I am looking to discover is how they identify the competency requirements of their work and how that is managed to ensure that competence is managed throughout their work. Your position as an M&E contractor places you in the direct line of the draft guidance document concerning competence management systems that the HSE issued last year. It seems to be asleep at this time but the information is in the public domain and could no doubt be cited if they wished. You will require a formalised competence management system at some stage and certainly such a system makes your life easier whether you are assessing or being assessed. I oft repeat nowadays - Come to the Midland Branch conference at the National Motorcycle Museum on May 8th and I will be doing the corporate competence workshop. HB Training are leading the Individual Competence on Site workshop. I am sure you have a valuable contribution to make to both workshops. Ring Helen Lambert on 0870 839 7344 for more details. Bob