Posted By Patrick Canning Hi all I have recently moved jobs and the company i now work at has 18001, I'm a fan of Safe-T-Cert which i have worked with for some years. Looking at the management systems of 18001, they seem a bit paper based, it feels as if i could do this without ever leaving my desk, rather than an emphasis on hands on safety, what's the general consensus, better the devil you know or is 18001 a better system. Regards Patrick

Posted By Larry Shannon I currently work in an 18001 certified establishment, and do some work for the CIF on Safe T Cert pre audits. Have seen a general improvement over last 12 months in firms applying for Safe T Cert, and I know its more flexible than 18001 and naturally been construction specific a lot of the extra 18001 elements are absent. Safe T Cert has also been accepted as pre tender qualification for London 2012. You can contact me at email above if you want to chat further. cheers

Posted By Larry Shannon http://www.safe-t-cert.ie/ developed between the CIF in Rep O Ireland and CEF in Northern Ireland. Endorsed by IOSH and IRCA. Was slow to take off in ROI but now close on 100 firms certified and over 700 in NI. lends its self to both the large organised firm with all sorts of management systems as well as the smaller 2-10 person firms that dominate construction.

Posted By Larry Shannon I beg to differ somewhat. Safe T Cert predates 18001 by some 7 years and I don't dispute that a construction related firm with 18001 would also easily obtain Safe T Cert and vise versa. The significance of any certification is how its implemented in the field but having either is a good starting point when assessing a contractors ethos , approach and attitude to safety management. I quote from the documentation below. THE SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Introduction Safe-T-Cert was developed jointly by the Construction Employers Federation in Belfast and the Construction Industry Federation in Dublin and was launched in October 2000. Safe-T-Cert takes account of ‘best practice’ guidelines of relevant national and international bodies including the ILO. Safe-T-Cert is a recognised system under the Build Safe initiative in Northern Ireland the Construction Safety Partnership in the Republic of Ireland. http://www.safe-t-cert.ie/ 2005 The process was successful and, as a result, SafeTCert is now accepted by IRCA as an acceptable alternative standard to OHSAS 18001 for the purposes of auditor certification and training course certification on its OH&S auditor programme. While other standards for OH&S management systems have been already developed, their focus is essentially quite generic. SafeTCert takes specific account of the diverse and challenging needs of the construction sector in so far as it has been created, with the help of much research, for a dynamic workplace which is constantly changing and whose workforce is often varied and diverse. SafeTCert has some unique benefits. First, clients are assured that certified contractors have an effective health and safety management system. Second, SafeTCert certification provides contractors with third party support for prequalification and selection. Insurance companies are currently being lobbied to look favourably on contractors who have taken a proactive approach to risk management through the achievement of SafeTCert certification.

Posted By David Balkwell David and Larry I am of course going to back David here Larry I notice the following from Safe-T-Cert website.......... "Safe-T-Cert was developed jointly by the Construction Employers Federation in Belfast and the Construction Industry Federation in Dublin and was launched in October 2000." As the co-founder of OHSAS18001:1999 I'm not sure where the preceding 7 years comes from ! Anyway as David says 18k is a management system not an industry specific scheme David Balkwell