Altius and SSIP
What is SSIP?
Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) is an umbrella organisation that facilitates mutual recognition between health & safety pre-qualification schemes. What this means is that all members of SSIP recognise specific elements of each other’s health & safety assessments, so that an assessment by one is recognised and accepted by all of the others.
What does SSIP cover?
The basis of SSIP mutual recognition is an assessment against the requirements of the Stage 1 Core Criteria of the CDM Regulations 2007. Once a vendor has successfully passed an assessment of their compliance with these regulations, they’ll be listed on the SSIP Portal under one or more of the following categories: Contractor, Designer, Principal Contractor, CDM Co-ordinator.
What doesn’t SSIP cover?
SSIP only covers CDM Core Criteria Stage 1. Altius carries out assessments against its clients’ requirements. These requirements cover a range of areas, such as commercial (e.g. financial, legal and insurance), quality, and corporate social responsibility, as well as health & safety. Even within health & safety, most of our clients look for us to go beyond CDM Core Criteria and in certain cases also to gather documentation from within that area. SSIP also doesn’t cover any contractual issues between client and sub-contractor.
What is the SSIP Portal?
The SSIP Portal is a web-based tool, developed by Altius on behalf of SSIP, which enables buyers to check the status of a given company under SSIP. All vendors that have passed a CDM assessment with one of the SSIP members will be listed. The SSIP Portal is not a sourcing tool, as it doesn’t allow buyers to see any information about the products and services a vendor provides.
What are the Client’s obligations under CDM?
All clients employing sub-contractors to undertake work covered by the CDM Regulations, must assess the competency of those sub-contractors. As a client, you have the choice to do this work yourself or to outsource it. If you’re a client of Altius, your sub-contractors will be able to meet the requirements of CDM as part of their assessment. Alternatively, you can check the status of specific companies on the SSIP Portal.
What does SSIP mean for me as a Client?
As a client, SSIP gives you confidence that any company listed on the SSIP Portal has been assessed to a common standard by a competent assessor and has met that standard. All SSIP members are audited on an annual basis, to ensure that their assessment meets the standards laid down by SSIP. Furthermore, all assessors are required to go on an IRCA course designed specifically for SSIP assessors.
What does SSIP mean for my Contractors?
SSIP means that contractors can reduce the time, effort and cost involved in undertaking assessments. An assessment undertaken with one member can be used to reduce or eliminate the requirements for assessment with another and often to get a reduced fee. Altius knocks £100 off its first year fee for SSIP-approved companies.
What is Altius’s involvement in SSIP?
Altius is not just a member of SSIP. Reflecting our commitment to the principles of mutual recognition, we are proud to sit on the Forum Management Group (which is responsible for the day-to-day management of SSIP) and also to have developed, and now to be hosting, the SSIP Portal.