SSIP Certification (Safety Schemes in Procurement)

If you hold OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 certification with LRQA, then as a Registered Member of SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement Competence Forum), we can also certify you against SSIP.

You can use your LRQA SSIP certification to be recognised by other SSIP Member schemes, such as CHAS, SafeContractor, NHBC Safemark, etc., so saving time and money by reducing duplication within pre-qualification schemes.

The revised CDM Regulations in April 2007 introduced Stage 1 Core Criteria for assessing health and safety (H&S) competence of contractors and consultants working in the construction industry.

This allowed existing H&S prequalification schemes to build on and formalise mutual recognition (already in operation amongst some) wherever practicable to do so . . . and so the SSIP was born.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) was instrumental in the formation of, and continues to support, the SSIP Forum. It views an accreditation assessment carried out by an SSIP Scheme member as ‘deemed to satisfy’ the Core Criteria requirements.

SSIP is an important move towards consolidating and building confidence in Stage 1 pre-qualification in the UK construction industry.

Public and private sector buyers with their own approved or preferred list of contractors require their potential contractors and consultants to have their H&S competence assessed at the pre-qualification stage.

You can often be required to be assessed by numerous pre-qualification schemes which is wasteful, so a key aim of the SSIP Forum is to maximise, wherever possible, the Stage 1 mutual recognition of SSIP Forum member pre-qualification schemes.

So if you are registered with LRQA's (LRQA) SSIP Registered Scheme, you shouldn't need to fill in further Stage 1 H&S forms for the others, though some may request additional Stage 2 questions or a registration fee.

If you are required to join a pre-qualification scheme and already have OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 with LRQA, then adding SSIP to that certification for a small annual fee makes sense.

• Regulation – criteria for assessing health and safety (H&S) competence of contractors and consultants working in the construction industry.

• Buyer confidence – SSIP is an important move towards consolidating and building confidence in Stage 1 pre-qualification in the UK construction industry.

• Reduced costs – allows existing H&S pre-qualification schemes to build on and formalise mutual recognition, thus cuts pre-qualification duplication and bureaucracy in the supply chain, allowing you to focus on the project specific requirements.

Experience

LRQA has been at the forefront of standards development and involved in SMS assessment and certification for many years.

Proven track record

We have high-profile clients in all industry sectors.

SSIP specialists

Our assessors are management systems experts qualified in health and safety.