Posted By CFT Darran To assess the health & safety competency of the company should not present too much difficulty for you; assessing however the competency of the specific trade may present a bigger problem, for if you for example, do not feel suitably competent to assess any 'particular ' trade may make it next best thing to impossible to complete your assessment. Are you wishing to restrict the assessment to H&S areas or beyond? CFT

Posted By Robert K Lewis Darran Picking from CFT. Assessing organisations as competent can be relatively straightforward. It is ultimately looking at key issues that surrounds competence management and company performance. Appendix 3 is not a bad guide but you need to be specific in the questions asked - they need to be clear and concise with a single question within the text of each question. Avoi questions that have unclear answers. Do you have a formal management system? is better than "Describe how you manage health and safety in the context of legislation" If the organisation is competent then why worry about the operatives? Bob

Posted By Martyn Hendrie Darren, Are you talking about "construction" contractors? If so there is useful guidance in Appendix 4 of the CDM Acop

Posted By CFT Tom In the HTS you refer to, is is limited to low voltage circuitry and they call in a qualified sparks for everything else? If not, unless they possess the appropriate level of certification to work on the supply, there is trouble ahead! How was the initial assessment carried out on the selected contractors, and what level of control do you have on the decision making process? CFT