I'm sure you will get some input from CHAS in the very near future, but i will say isn't that why CHAS and the other similar organisations exist? Why does a contractor sign up to CHAS and pay good money? It's so that companies like yours can apply to CHAS and receive full comprehensive information about the contractor's safety procedures. If it works don't fix it.

this is something that I am faced with at the moment, our business has signed up to Constructionline and wants all our subcontractors to do likewise but its really not that practical.

In my opinion it is not too difficult for any well organised contractor to obtain SSIP accreditation. I echo Chas, the schemes are generally fit for purpose and a good starting point in vetting contractors as long as you are aware what they actually do and do not do. I partly agree with James321, contractors can if they wish bluff their way through, particularly in demonstrating their implementation but a lot of the information is looked at and difficult to fabricate. If you are not going to use SSIP then you will end up repeating a lot of what these schemes do and in my experience you are not going to verify most of the information submitted by contractors anyway. This depending on the numbers could be a very long and bureaucratic process. The issue with SSIP is that there is no external audit, unlike OHSAS 18001, that verifies what they say they are going to do with what they are actually doing. I away focus any further vetting on this. SSIP does however pin down contractors and if things do go wrong you can refer to want they have submitted. I always consider the risks involved as to whether to just accept SSIP accreditation or take the vetting further and always obtain a digital copy of their RAMS. I have also found SSIP is not particularly good for sole traders as they can struggle to provide meaningful information to pass.

I support SSIP and other commercial schemes. BEWARE though that asbestos awareness training arrangements IS NOT a standard question within these schemes.

We currently accept SSIP to meet the old stage one assessment this is also complemented by using companies that are experienced in the works they undertake, this is by references, checks etc carried out by the commercial team along side the safety dept for the competence side. In addition to this at site level we have the usual safe system of work assessment, by the project team and checked by the visiting safety adviser plus we also record competence of individuals i.e. Asbestos awareness training ( try to avoid the on line training as this can be completed by anyone on the end of the keyboard) gas safe etc. It works well but does take commitment by the individuals and the company to maintain a system of this type but is always a plus point in our British Standard compliance audits. Regards PaulR