There are a number of great accreditations that I have supported clients with in the last few years.
These include:
So what is Accreditation?
Accreditation is something we get questions about on a daily basis. Hopefully, I can break it down a bit for you and help answer any questions you might have.
What is accreditation?
Accreditation is an online assessment which demonstrates to potential clients that you meet specific standards of health and safety.
Why should you have accreditation?
Accreditation shows that you take health and safety seriously. It was designed to review and audit health and safety policies, procedures and documentation. As it reviews your health and safety procedures and proves that you can meet the required standard, it reduces the need to complete and submit multiple health and safety questionnaires to clients. This means saving you time and money – which can only be a good thing!
Accreditation is used by numerous public and private sector organisations as a pre-qualification, when they are short listing contractors, suppliers and consultants for jobs. When you become approved, you’re put onto the database, which is used by many household names. These larger clients have access to the list, meaning it opens up more doors or you and your business to potentially tender and work for these larger organisations, as they know the companies on it are already achieving the required health and safety standards.
You’ll also get the use of logos and stickers for your websites, vans etc, to demonstrate straight away to potential clients that you’re committed to health and safety.
What sectors does accreditations cover?
Accreditation covers well over 120 different sectors including: construction, retail, education, property management, leisure, finance and manufacturing companies. In terms of contractors, you can become approved if you’re in general building, electrical, mechanical services, environmental, pressure systems, and construction and building services.
What will I need for the application?
Accreditations assess a range of aspects of the business. We’ve listed just a few of the things you’ll need below, not everything on the list will be applicable to every business:
- Your Safety Policy
- Health & safety arrangements
- Work equipment procedures
- Health & Safety training
- First Aid Provision
- Risk Assessments
- COSHH Assessments
- Accident Reporting
- Fire documents
- Electrical Safety
- Manual Handling Assessments
- Polices
What are the benefits of having accreditiaion?
One of the main benefits of being approved is that you immediately display your compliance with health and safety law to potential clients. As we’ve already said, it opens up more doors in terms of tendering for work – a client could be more likely to consider you over someone who isn’t approved. It’ll also give you the opportunity to tender for bigger and better contracts, meaning giving yourself the potential to grow and earn more money.
Accreditations can also help to improve your business’ productivity. How? If you’re spending less time filling in Pre-Qualification Questionnaires and more time on other aspects of the business.
Going through the process of accreditations really makes you step back and take a look at your health and safety practices. If you think something is going to stop you passing, you’re likely to try and improve that area, which can only be a benefit to you and any staff that you’ve got. Plus, as you begin to standardise your processes, it can help to improve communication and standards throughout the business.
Will it take a lot of time and money?
There’s no two ways about it: yes, it’s going to cost you some money. Accreditations have a fee, depending of the size of your business. You can find these fees on their website. However, the benefits of becoming accredited approved far outweigh the original costs.
In terms of time, that all depends on you. If you don’t have all the information required for them to assess your business, it’s going to take longer; as you’ll have to get everything in place before submitting your application. If you’ve got all the requirements in place and up to a good enough standard, then your application isn’t going to take as long to submit and process.
What areas do people struggle with?
Not everyone will pass the application first time. If the processes and documents that you have in place aren’t up to a good enough standard, then you’re not likely to pass first time.
A lot of the calls we receive are from people whose application has failed. If you’re struggling with your application, or have had it knocked back, but are ready to start reaping the rewards, we can assist you with your application and help you in your journey to becoming approved.
