Benefits of CHAS
- Participating in the CHAS scheme helps both companies
and employers.
- It makes sure a company is compliant with important
parts of health and safety law.
- It means members do not have to repeat the effort of
assessing health and safety compliance of applications
for companies who have already been assessed to our standards.
- Companies do not have to undergo health and safety assessments
every time they apply to one of our clients for work -
clients will know they have been successfully assessed
before.
- It will get rid of inconsistency where some contractors
may be judged compliant by one employer but not others.
Employers' Duties
There are many reasons why CHAS is part of the process for
choosing contractors. Moral reasons include a desire to set
a good example by working safely. The fact that the scheme
saves companies money means there are sound business reasons
too. These include best value, meeting procurement regulations
and a duty to provide value for money and efficiency savings.
Employers also have legal duties. Section 2(3) of the Health
and Safety at Work Act 1974 says all companies that employ
five or more people must have a written statement of their
health and safety policy. Regulations make employers responsible
for assessing the health and safety standards of any company
they use to carry out work on their behalf. This is designed
to protect the employer's staff and everyone else who is
affected by their work.
Employers also have a duty to monitor companies to make
sure they are working safely. Of course, the level of assessment
and any monitoring should match the level of risk.
Purpose of the procedure
Our purpose of CHAS is to provide assessment criteria that
safety professionals can use for the health and safety element
of a prequalification application. The scheme assesses a
company's:
- Health and safety policy statement
- Organization for health and safety
- Specific health and safety arrangements to a standard
acceptable to our client users.
Selecting a company who has demonstrated compliance with these
standards helps a client make sure that they comply with health
and safety law. A client organization assessing a company can
add their own criteria that will then exceed our standard.
However, the database entry reflects only our standard unless
a comment is added to explain how the contractor exceeded it.
The Assessment
By reviewing a company's health and safety culture, CHAS assessors make sure
they meet standards set by the 1974 Health and Safety at Work etc Act. (And
the new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations to be introduced in
2007. Assessors will check they are following guidance issued by both the Health
and Safety Executive and the Health and Safety Commission.
Assessment Subjects
CHAS does not assess health and safety competence for specific types of work
but concentrates on fundamental health and safety management and compliance
issues as they apply to the work CHAS has been told the company does. The table
below shows the areas CHAS look at in the assessment.
Not all areas of the assessment will apply to all companies: some will depend
on the kind of work they do.
General Policy Statement
Organisation for Health & Safety
Work Equipment
Health & Safety Training
Consultation Arrangements
First Aid
Fire and Emergency Procedures
Display Screen Equipment
Manual Handling of Loads
COSHH
Risk Assessment
Asbestos
Health Surveillance
Accident Reporting
Work Equipment
Personal Protective Equipment
Electrical Safety
Contractor Management
Workplace and Inspections
Fire Risk Assessment
Monitoring, Audit and Review |
