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Do companies with less than 5 employees who have competent advice and have verifiable HS training for staff have to produce written risk assessment to pass.
Many Thanks
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Rank: Super forum user
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Irrespective of quotes etc in various laws re written documents and sizes of work forces e.g. H&S policies, risk assessments etc if you end up in court you will need as much written proof that you have managed, irrespective of the size of your company, as you can produce, so please look to get away from this 5 person situation and risk assess etc as you should; noting that the inland revenue and pensions dept expect you to cover all employees even where you only employ 1 person!
Additionally CHAS has its own rules and to be part of the club [club used in the best possible way as I endorse CHAS fully] you have to adhere to their requests
As an evaluator I would expect a small company to have the same standards as a large company - law and risk based being the scale of what is needed along with any T&C's
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Rank: Forum user 
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Information around this will be on the CHAS website and the application form
It is not a specific requirement for them to provide assessments but how are you able to assess whether the company has considered the hazards and risks of a work activity without some form of information being written down and provided to the assesor, - then it is only a small step to doing an actual risk assessment or two, based on HSE 5 steps guidance. Rather than a long war and peace novel of how the work activity is approached, although both ways should gain the same result.
And as Youel29377 mentions, it will cover you if anything untoward does occur and you are being asked in depth questions by the local HSE inspector on how you managed the work activities.
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Rank: Forum user
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from my own experiance with CHAS it seems they require proof that certain things have been done i.e. have the risks been assessed etc. If you can prove that then the assessors will generally accept that as complient. however if you are going to go to the trouble of assessing the risks then you may as well take it the whole way and coplete a proper risk assessment. if not for CHAS' sake but for the experiance of doing so and simply as good practice.
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Rank: Guest
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The thing is I and the Govt dont believe very small enterprise eg under 5 employees should be bogged down in paperwork.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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But the point surely is if you want to be accredited by CHAS or work for someone who is, then you will need the documentation.
So in this case, while the law states a minimum legal standard... the CHAS system poses a higher requirement for those involved.
It sounds a bit like ISO 9001 in that respect, i.e. you can only be accredited yourself or be an approved supplier for an accredited company if you can meet the appropriate standard of quality assurance.
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Rank: Super forum user
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in response to what the gov wants re paperwork for small companies
Why is it that Gov does not want SME's to be bogged down by paperwork re H&S areas but its OK to bog them down with paperwork for all other areas e.g. tax, planning, CRB, DDA, pensions, social security, environment, insurances, financial returns etc? Whats the difference between H&S and all other areas?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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BJA wrote:
Do companies with less than 5 employees who have competent advice and have verifiable HS training for staff have to produce written risk assessment to pass.
Despite what is written elsewhere the answer should be anunequivable YES to show you are exceeding the 'norms'. As the company grows to 6 people the documentation will already be there and you won't have to worry about putting some thing in place.
Badger
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Rank: Guest
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Its strange then that the HSC/HSE dont think so as presumably they recommended the MHSWR regs to the Govt.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I think that we may be getting slightly mixed up with the requirements of the law e.g. those about a safety polcy, recording significant findings of RA's etc and what CHAS require to be able to try and assess a companys health and safety performance.
I won't comment on whether I think that CHAS does that or not, but I do wonder if the original question might better be directed to Merton/CHAS
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Rank: New forum user
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In relation to the risk assessment question. Most assessors that are the CHAS scheme are health and safety practitioners and they have to meet a quality standard in requirements to assess your company. The question of information relating to providing risk assessment is going to be in relation to the work that you are doing.
Eg. So a small contractor such as a sub-contractor doing work for a bigger company would fall under the requirements of the bigger company ie CDM works. If you speak to the assessor and explain the reasoning behind your work and the type of work. Then the information that is needed should be gained by your Principal Contractor.
But remember where do you see yourself as a company in 2-3 years time. The work done now will able to put yourself in a better picture for consideration for future works if you become a main contractor.
I hope this information helps
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Rank: Forum user
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As pointed out by a view others above the CHAS scheme requires a number of details in order for the assessment to be compliant.
If the requirement for compliance is above the legal minimum then this is what is required, it is an accreditation scheme, with its own criteria, to gather information on and around a companies understanding and management of health and safety.
Some requirements may be above minimum standards but this can be considered as best practice and should be embraced by the contractor for consideration and possibly uptake the requirements to enhance their systems. and use as building blocks for the future when employee numberss expand or you begin to use more hired in work.
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Rank: Forum user
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Quick answer is (IMHO)
If you wanted to join a golf club, then you have to abide to the standards of that golf club. If you dont want to abide by those standards, then the golf club have the right to say no thank you, your not joining us.
It is the golf club who get to set there standards, and can have them at any level, as long as they are not breaking the law.
Simples
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Rank: Forum user
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MrPaul has it spot on. if you dont like it, dont get involved.
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