Posted By SJA A colleague - well someone that I know - has told me about this new scheme run by Hampshire Trading Standards. They operate a 'Buy with Confidence' scheme where they list 'approved' trading organisations for the general public to employ/engage - I guess with confidence. Have a look at: www.buywithconfidence.co.uk Nationally recognised by the 'Office of Fair Trading' apparently. In order to get on to this scheme, which I understand is being rolled out nationally, all you have to do is give them contact your details, answer basic information and get a couple of friend to write a recommendation for you and that is it! Someone from Trading Standard may come out and see you but then the most rogue of traders are usually charmers! Once you have done this, you are effectively a trader endorsed by the office of fair trading. The Trading Standards say that this scheme is to avoid 'rip-offs and cowboys by providing a list of reputable local businesses in a wide range of different trades ....' However, having a look at some organisations that are listed, and particularly Health & Safety, some are not what they seem ... not even IOSH or IIRSM, and I not saying that this should specifically be a criterium, necessarily but it is a good benchmark to indicate a certain level of competence. I am not sure that this type of government scheme endorsing professions such as health and safety without any competence checks or any specific guidance or warnings to the general public is entirely ethical by a government body who should be seen as impartial and trustworthy. I can not see any way of establishing that by their easy 'entry criteria' that they are filtering rogue traders out of their lists but may in fact be raising the profile of businesses and organisations that are not reputable or who are rogue traders - my emphasise being of course on Health & Safety - but can apply across any organisation listed.

Posted By Jay Joshi The schemes has specific limitations that are stated on its website:- "We cannot guarantee the financial standing of members nor their health and safety procedures. Similarly we cannot be sure that their work will never give rise to complaint, but should this be the case, any difficulties will be dealt with fairly"

Posted By JMM OFT and Hampshire Trading Standards appear to have shown two fingers to "Trustmark". "TrustMark is an award-winning scheme supported by Government, building industry and consumer protection groups to help you find reliable, trustworthy tradesmen to make improvements and repairs inside and outside your home".

Posted By Hazel Harvey All, I have been reading this thread with some interest. I looked at the Hampshire site and asked for Health and Safety Consultants. This gave me three results, of these two of them are staffed by IOSH members (checked out) and one claims to have their advisers at NEBOSH Certificate level although I can't check this as we don't have the company on our database. So perhaps it isn't as bad as it seems. However, as IOSH increases its profile through our 'Get the Best' campaign, if you would like to let me know about any initiatives like this then I'll research them and put some input in if necessary. Hazel Harvey Director of Professional Affairs

Posted By Sarah Sahc But Jay ... Isn't that the problem? Although customer care is of course important - health & safety isn't about how nicely you tell the customer that they are at risk or that they are placing others at risk. Can the general public make the distinction that you made - will they read all of the terms and conditions and the code of conduct that says very little? - Charming the public and knowing what you are talking about is miles apart and do not necessarily go hand in hand. Hazel got a 75% 'pass rate' on this site, at the moment, but it is still relatively new and is being rolled out to other counties, three others are actually running it now. JMM is right in saying that this new scheme totally disregards the Trustmark scheme which is obviously well established and respected. it would have more value to build onto existing schemes rather then complicate the process and profession further. Maybe it would be helpful, if Hazel or IOSH contacted Trading Standards to discuss establishing standards or providing guidance for consumers, available on the website and not hidden on back pages, but with the consultants details - before the scheme is rolled out any further. Trading standards, as a government body, and respected mostly unconditionally for their independent standing are, with this scheme, for Health & Safety and other professions, (where they are claiming that they are trying to irradiate the rogue traders and cowboys) effectively deceiving the general public when their entry criteria clearly has not been thought-out completely and is the same for all professions - which makes no sense at all. Trading Standards have a duty of care to the general public on the information that they present and how they present it, it is unacceptable to try and disclaim themselves out of that responsibility and duty as they are an organisation which joe-public believes it can trust. The government department have to be accountable for the decisions that they make including the very bad ones. It would be interesting to hear and argument that supports the scheme or even from one of the subscribers to the scheme!

Posted By Hazel Harvey The Consultancy Guide is available, search through techncial information. Hazel Harvey

Posted By IOSH Web Manager The moderators have agreed to post this message from Hampshire County Council. Hampshire County Council Trading Standards Service created the Buy With Confidence (BWC) scheme back in 1999 and have been developing it ever since. This Service, like many others, receives regular enquiries from our residents who are concerned about rogue traders. Quite often, they have seen a "Builders from Hell " type programme, and make the assumption that all traders are like those shown on TV. They therefore call us to ask, "Who should I not go to for my work?" We always struggled to give a useful answer to these enquiries - partly because of restrictions under data protection, but also because we know that not all the complaints we receive are justified . With these thoughts in mind, we decided it would be much more beneficial to our residents and our many excellent local businesses, to have a scheme which approves good traders. Membership of BWC is open to all business types and we have developed a detailed audit process to ensure that all members meet high standards of legal compliance in relation to trading standards issues and provide good customer service. The vast majority of our members are in the home improvement and car sales and servicing sectors as, nationally, these are the most complained about by consumers and the ones we have the most requests for information about. The audit checks include: ? County Court Judgements ? Financial Checks ? Insolvency/bankruptcy checks ? Criminal Convictions -where appropriate ? Consumer Credit Licence (where appropriate) ? Membership of any claimed trade associations or professional bodies ? Trading Standards Services' own enquiry databases and national consumer complaints database check ? Customer references ? Compliance with all Trading Standards related legislation, including terms and conditions of contracts. The references we take up are selected by us from the company's invoices in order to give as much independence as possible. The checks are all designed to ensure that the business deals fairly and honestly with the consumer. The exact nature of the checks will depend on the type and size of the business. It is true that BWC cannot cover every piece of legislation which impacts on our applicants, as no scheme can, but does work hard to achieve its stated aims. We have established good partnership links with a number of trade associations to use their own membership checks as part of our audits. Typical checks include CORGI membership where required or compliance with Part E of the Building Regulations. To date we have nearly 400 members in Hampshire and over 1500 across the south east region of trading standards authorities. We monitor feedback on members on a regular basis and conduct re-audits on a periodic basis. We rigorously monitor complaints and if problems arise, we suspend members while the problems are addressed. I would stress that this is fairly rare because we work hard to keep our members informed about legal changes and about any complaints. We never claim our members are perfect, but they have to pass a thorough audit lasting several months on average, and must always respond to consumers whenever problems arise. We constantly review our procedures and would welcome information which may help us develop best practice. If it is the case that a specific qualification or accreditation is required in order to establish competency in any field of business, we would seek to amend our membership criteria accordingly. As a result of the information we have received, we will review requirements for this trade sector and take appropriate action if that is shown to be required. I feel it would be useful to us to open discussions with the IOSH in relation to the health and safety issues and how we can further help the public and our members. After discussion with the moderators, this thread has been locked and IOSH members wishing to discuss it further should open a new thread on the IOSH Members Forum. Regards, Angela Wheatcroft