CHAS - Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme

CHAS Application Assistance

CHAS Assistance

Health and Safety support for your CHAS Assessment | Leeds | Yorkshire

WHAT IS CHAS?

CHAS is a government run (not for profit) scheme administered by the London Borough of Merton. CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) developed and refined over a number of years by local government health and safety and procurement professionals, with the support of the Health and Safety Executive. Although the CHAS scheme has been developed by government bodies, the CHAS scheme is available for use by any public and private sector Organisation as an aid when short listing Contractors, Suppliers and Consultants who apply to work for them. It provides information and assurances about the health and safety systems and competence of the Organisations who have been CHAS assessed or accredited.

Organisations apply to CHAS to become CHAS assessed, by doing so their potential Clients know that they meet minimum acceptable standards of health and safety compliance. Clients from both the public and private sectors use CHAS to make assessments of Contractors in this way. Once the CHAS application has been approved for an organisation, their details are uploaded to the CHAS database where Client members of CHAS can review Organisation’s details and check that they are in fact CHAS registered. One of the benefits to Contractors is that by making successful CHAS application, they can demonstrate to a wide number of potential Clients that they achieve or exceed the minimum standards laid down by the CHAS scheme.

CHAS Benefits:

Participating in the CHAS scheme helps both suppliers and buyers.

• Suppliers show compliance with important parts of health and safety law (the core criteria described in the CDM regulations).
• On achieving compliance a supplier is approved to work for all of CHAS’ buyers.(Some Buyers may require “Accredited” Status)
• Inconsistencies are reduced where some suppliers may be judged compliant by one buyer but not another.
• CHAS gives guidance on any weaknesses in a supplier’s safety management, including how they can improve.
• Being a CHAS supplier or buyer saves both time and resources ;
• Enabling the health and safety elements of Constructionline to be complied with.

CHAS and Constructionline

Constructionline is the Government’s national register for suppliers. In the same way CHAS offers a tool for use in the health and safety element of pre-qualification, Constructionline provide the pre-qualification tool for use in financial standing, technical references and other areas. The CHAS management group supports the principles of a single register and so works jointly with Constructionline.

Following agreement by the then Department of Trade and Industry, CHAS and Constructionline formed a “mutual working agreement”. This describes how we will work together to provide an improved service for buyers.

Both CHAS and Constructionline are separate but the schemes are linked.

CDM 2015

The introduction of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM), means there are now stricter requirements on Client and Principal Contractors to ensure that they only employ “Competent Contractors”. CHAS is however named in the CDM Regulations by the Health and Safety Executive as being one of the requirements that can be used when demonstrating your competence as an Organisation.

What Are The Benefits Of CHAS Registration?

Membership & Registration of CHAS can assist Contractors by:

How do I become CHAS Registered?

To become CHAS registered, you need to download a copy of the relevant application form from the CHAS website which can be found at the following location:

www.CHAS.gov.uk

Once you have your CHAS application form you need to answer all of the various questions, provide evidence to support your answers and submit a wide range of documentation, including training certificates, your Health and Safety Policy, Risk Assessments, COSHH Assessments, Method Statements, Fire Risk Assessments, Manual Handling Assessments and other documentation. In addition to this you also have to provide details on your historic health and safety performance and details of where you obtain your health and safety advice, information and support from.

CAN SMS EUROPE HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSULTANTS HELP?

If your company needs to make a CHAS application call SMS Europe on 0845 2240028.

SMS EUROPE HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSULTANTS can assist with your complete CHAS application by working with you to ensure that you have the necessary systems, procedures and documentation in place. We can ensure that your systems are up to speed with our CHAS application service and we can complete your CHAS application form, review your existing documentation and provide you with any additional documentation that you may need to help you manage health and safety and demonstrate your competence to your CHAS assessor.

In addition to this, we can also advise you on any additional training requirements that you may need and act as your Competent Health and Safety Advisors.

Our areas of work
Yorkshire Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Bolton Bury London Barnsley Leeds, Bradford, York, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Halifax, Doncaster, North East, Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Northallerton, Ripon, Castleford, Wakefield, Sheffield, West Midlands, East Midlands, Nottingham, Derby.
Nationwide

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CHAS just for the construction industry?

Absolutely not, the CHAS database collates information from suppliers, contractors and addresses all categories of work. From window cleaning, residential care and cleaning services right the way through to asbestos removal. There is information from a wide range of industries and sectors, including the construction industry.

What does CHAS stand for?

CHAS stands for Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme.

How long does it take to undergo a CHAS assessment?

First of all, you must complete the application form and provide all the relevant documentation needed to begin the assessment. Without this, the CHAS assessment cannot begin. Once all that has been sent and deemed acceptable you can expect everything to be finalised within 10 working days. Of course, if the application that you send is incomplete in any way then this will, of course, extend the turnaround time.

Who Can Become a CHAS client?

The CHAS scheme in its current form is open to all companies, institutions and organisations in the public and private sector. Unfortunately, there is a common misconception among people that it is just for construction companies but that just isn't true. Clients of CHAS are far-reaching and include housing associations, multiple government departments include local councils, private companies with complex supply chains and emergency services like the ambulance and fire service. 

What Does CHAS Assess?

CHAS assess various things about your business, institution or organisation. It can, however, be distilled into three key things. The first thing it assesses is your health and safety policy statement to ensure it is compliant and based on updated policy. The second is the organisational structure of your health and safety in the company and the final thing that assesses your own specific health and safety arrangements and how they match up to the levels that are set by the CHAS.