Hi,



I have been asked my boss if we should/could implement 18001 in order to win new work with LA's.


My knowledge of 18001 extends to knowing it is a management system and have been told its similar to HSG65 but a lot more detailed.

I don’t think I will have any problems implementing this, in fact quite looking forward to getting stuck in if I decide to go through with it.


The organisation is a landscaping and fencing contractor with around 30 employees - working for new build housing developers and two councils.

My boss would like more council work and that is the reason for wanting this.

If anyone would be kind enough to answer a few questions for me.



> How much will it costs roughly i.e. is there a yearly fee, how often do you pay for external audits and how much are they roughly


> From experience how long has it taken you to set this up into an organisation ?

> How much work is involved in maintaining a system like this for a low risk industry with 30 employees ? - Will a part time health and manager be comfortable doing this or would it be a full time role


> Do you think it will be beneficial in relation to winning new tenders. How important is it to have this working for a LA ?. The reason I ask this is because the two LA's we work for have asked for construction line and Chas and nothing more.


However last summer we sent off letters to several new LA's introducing the company and the services we offer with no response


Any other information you feel is relevant would be great, like I say its just a thought at the mo

Safezone.
I find myself in a very similar position to yourself in some ways.

From a cost perspective we have been quoted between 5k and 7k (Including 9001 as well) for an external audit-around 50 direct employees. I think the cost of the audit has more to do with turnover rather than employee numbers but I may be wrong.

The length of time to set it up really depends on where you stand at the minute but from my perspective allow about 6-9 months at least, there is a lot of work, especially paper work.

I, like you was part time on 2 days a week but now I'm full time due to 18001 and a few other factors.

No idea about how benificial it is as we haven't got there yet but we are consistantly asked for it in pre quals.

Karpov you will note the time of our answers that we almost got there at the same time. Get a life eh?

One point I would make is why do prospective clients rely on such expensive agents for information about competent contractors? Is this a way of contracting out their responsibility to ensure competence?

Not just consructionline but CHAS appear to be in partnership with each other (coalitions seem to be popular at present).

There is also the Safecontractor scheme and others - all money making expenses to the small to medium business but necessary to gain work???????????

Hi,

In answer to your questions:

- Exactly I do not know - but any friendly consultancy will give you a ball park figure if you call them and explain the situation.

- It depends how developed the system already is. My old employer refused to go down the route citing too much paperwork - but I knew we were nearly there. It could take months of dedicated work - but it just results in a well structured and managed management system. As with much of H&S it is down to the troops to manage. P/T should not be a problem if you get the message across and other people manage their bits of the process.

- I don't know about contracting to LA's, but increasingly large private companies look for some sort of external verification. 18001 is only one form of external audit and is probably the most widely recognised. RoSPA have a system too, and in many cases just having an independant audit schedule is adequate.


My advice would be to go on an Internal Auditor or Lead Auditor course so that you really understand the needs of the system, and then you can decide if it is for you or not.

Best of luck!!

Andrew