Rank: Forum user
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Hi I am after some advice.
I work for a Group of companies one of which is a steel fabricator. They have recently approached me stating that they believe that they need to be CHAS registered (The Contractors Health & Safety (CHAS) Assessment Scheme) And if they get approved it will help increase sales etc etc.
Apart from what I have read on the internet I have no Knowledge or experience of this scheme. What I would like to know is does anybody deal with this scheme? Is it as worth wile system?
Bearing in mind it about £160 ish pounds a year and lots of paperwork.
Thanks
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Rank: Super forum user
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Craig,
I may have to do this also, however, as far as I know so far it is only for Public Sector organisations?
We have to do SAFEcontractor first as that is what our customers want, it is not a speculative thing for us.
IIRC, there is someone involved with CHAS around here on the forums?
HTH
Paul
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Rank: Forum user
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Thanks Paul.
I should really point out that the way they approached me with the issue wasn’t a case of we could make more sales. It was more a case of we will loose out on some orders without it. Oh they also mentioned that there was about a 14 page document that they would need me to read and complete.
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Rank: Forum user
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CHAS is used widely by both public and private sector clients with more than 420 buyers and over 32,000 regsitered contractors and consultants it is the largest scheme in the UK. Membership includes blue chip comapanies such as BAE; General Motors, Bentley Motors and even the Royal Household
As a founder member of SSIP (www.ssip.org.uk) a compliant registration with CHAS is seen as a deem to satisfy with other SSIP scheme members.
If you want further information please contact the admin team through the CHAS web site
Regards
John
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Rank: New forum user
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I have completed CHAS for my company which although is not a construction company we work for local authorities etc and a lot of contracts specify chas as a requirement.
It is a fairly straightforward process as long as you have the health and safety documentation and procedures that your company requires to work safely.
You just complete the questionnaire and send the supporting evidence and thats it. There is no audit at your company it is all done by checking your documentation.
If you work for local authorities or want to then it will probably lead to more work tenders.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Unlike the previous sales pitch I would say that CHAS is probably the most recognised of the contractor registrations schemes and it is true that many companies lose contracts without it.
So in that respect I would say it probably is worth it as many companies won't accept contractors without accreditation.
However, (and speaking as a consultant who has helped endless amounts of clients through the process) be prepared to get frustrated as hell and jump through a huge amount of hoops to get it and cross your fingers that you get a nice assessor because some I have come across take the michael. You will probably find that you won't get accreditation on first attempt, most companies don't, the amount of paperwork required is immense (in my opinion excessive). The earlier the start you get the better. You may need to get help.
Good luck (you'll need it!!)
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Rank: Super forum user
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ooops, took me a while to write that. I meant unlike John Murphy!!!
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Rank: Forum user
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I see it very differently to the last posting. Two of our clients flew through it with only minor changes required. One of them actually did it by themselves to prove the adequacy of the documentation.
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Rank: New forum user
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As i said before i have completed the CHAS questionnaire for the last 4 years and have never had a problem. We are not a construction company so maybe the questionnaire is not as involved. As long as you send sufficient supporting information to the questions and you have the procedures and training in place there should be no cause for concern.
It saves completing a lot of health and safety pqq's in the long term and will benefit your company and give you more options for competing for work.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thanks for the advice.
I guess I better make a start on the paperwork. :(
Craig
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Rank: Super forum user
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JM is a great guy and a personal friend and his scheme in my opinion is one of the better one's
All situations in life are the same - if you are not in 'it' you are out of 'it' so look at it from that angle
The one problem with most such schemes is that they are designed on the whole for building and civils companies as against others e.g emgineering fabricators so you need to ensure that whoever has been given the task of evaluating your business has experience etc in your business areas
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Rank: New forum user
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Hi Craig, I work for a FE/HE College in West Yorkshire. We contract out some of our training, and as part of this tendering process, organisations have to complete a 14 page document, to demonstrate to us that they take Health and Safety responsibilities seriously. This covers all aspects of Health and Safety, and the CHAS scheme accreditation, demonstrates that the requirements of our organisation are in place, within that organisation. So it's down to individuals, and if they believe it is value for money.
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Rank: New forum user
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A note about CHAS, it’s worth doing, but as someone else mentioned earlier they do require a lot of documents to start with, I always keep copies of all the documents I send out, they also question what you send, my advice is keep it short and sweet don’t get carried away only send what they ask you for. Remember if you don’t have what they ask for tell them why and they will give you an action plan for 3/6 months so you can sort things out for a later date.
Good Luck
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