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Mulberry reporting in for duty, you humans on Earth are currently celebrating something called Easter, while I’m not here to tell you about the danger of chocolate, which I’m sure Magenta would say there isn’t any, still welcome to our Easter Bonanza Blog.

While you’re off over the weekend why not give this a read.

So this blog will be slightly different instead of going into depth about one specific area I shall be giving some little titbits about some Health and Safety which you may know or may not, think of them as Sphere Easter Eggs.

What happens when you reach 5 employees?

Quite simple really instead of your risk assessments and method statements being in your head you have to write them down and get the RAMS signed off by your employees or contractors. We always say, just to make sure, that even if you haven’t got 5 employees to write your RAMS down then if the dreaded HSE comes knocking you can defeat them swiftly with one fell swoop. Also this may impress certain clients, or site supervisors/Principal Contractors who may want to use you again because of your proactive nature towards health and safety.

Which sub-contractor do I use?

When tendering for jobs sometimes the work load can be rather large therefore you can employ sub-contractors who can help with the work load, but which are the best ones to use? The simple answer is ones who work the safest of course. This may include them holding various qualifications the most common of those being a CSCS card which is standard policy for those, an even better certificate to have would be their SSIP meaning they have already been vetted by another party and their health and safety is all in order. You have to also look out for insurance and in most cases I found that they have to agree to sign your Health and Safety documents including your RAMS. All in all contractors are needed but don’t be silly think, vet them, ask for references maybe from other jobs. Each company should have their own procedures for dealing with sub-contractors, if not hopefully this will give you some guidance of what to ask for.

Why should I do an SSIP?

SSIPs or safe systems in procurement are a great way for your business to grow it Health and Safety profile, all offer a buyers database which is looked at by various big building companies and councils. The majority of councils will ask for you to hold an SSIP if you are doing any council work, the reason they ask for this partly because it will speed up their process as another party has already checked over the majority of your paperwork and they have deemed it satisfactory, therefore the council do not need to reassess it. However this does not mean that the council or building contractor won’t ask for other documents in addition to your SSIP, like RAMS, this is because each set of RAMS is specific to each job, or they should be. For larger companies working in the construction industry this is the best way of boosting your profile as a lot of potential tenders could be based on whether you have this accreditation or not.

At Sphere they offer so many varied products which is tailored for your needs, they have an excellent processing time of SSIPs, subject to clients’ needs etc. Their base knowledge and expertise have made many local, regional and national businesses succeed where other larger health and safety firms have not been able to achieve. So why are you waiting give them a call now!

Thanks for reading!                                                                                          Mulberry

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