Simplifying compliance: Key changes to SafeContractor’s streamlined approach

At Alcumus SafeContractor, we’re at the forefront of creating safer workplaces by supporting our network of hiring clients and contractors, keeping them compliant with the latest standards that matter most, from health and safety to sustainability and ethical behaviour.

In the dynamic world of safety and compliance, it’s essential for clients and contractors to adapt to the changing regulatory landscape. SafeContractor is committed to keeping you informed, and today is no different. We have exciting new developments that will improve our dynamic assessment for smaller-sized contractors and empower our clients’ social value initiatives.

Golden key takeaways

• Simplification and efficiency: In response to feedback, SafeContractor is reducing its questionnaire length by up to 30%. Our dynamic question set drives proportionate questions, applicable to the risks associated with the category of work.
• Support for small businesses: The changes are designed to help businesses with up to five employees and solo contractors by reducing the administrative burden associated with the assessment.
• Proportionate stance: At SafeContractor, we understand the unique challenges faced by small contractors, which is why we take a proportionate approach to our assessments. This means our evaluation process is scaled to fit the size and complexity of the contractor’s business, ensuring it’s both fair and manageable. Despite this proportionate approach, we maintain rigorous standards to ensure all contractors are compliant and competent to undertake work.
• Enhanced compliance and safety: These changes aim to improve safety standards and streamline procurement processes. For our client users, this means they can be certain that all members of their supply chain are competent and meet the necessary compliance requirements.

Why are we improving our assessment?

At Alcumus SafeContractor, we have always championed a proportionate approach to risk, assessing contractors based on their unique work activities to gain an in-depth view of their risk profile. We believe there’s always room for improvement, which is why we gathered feedback from clients and contractors to shape the latest improvements to our assessment.

The key evolution of our questionnaire is aimed at encouraging more micro businesses and solo contractors to join our certification.

Changes to our questionnaire

The SafeContractor questionnaire has been enhanced to account for the size and risk profile of a contractor, which could reduce the question set by up to 30%. This will save contractors time while ensuring they remain aligned with the latest regulatory requirements. By further simplifying our assessment for smaller contractors, we demonstrate our commitment to encouraging resilient and compliant supply chains.

What does this mean for hiring organisations?

For hiring organisations, these changes mean easier engagement with your smaller contractors. We understand that social value is a growing business objective for you. With mass adoption of our improved questionnaire across our network, we can help you form partnerships with more compliant local contractors. The latest enhancements offer several benefits:

• Engage and partner with more compliant contractors: With the improved question set, clients can access a larger network of certified contractors of all sizes via our client portal.
• Build safe, compliant work environments: The revised questionnaire for solo contractors will reduce unnecessary paperwork for small businesses while ensuring a safe and compliant supply chain. The SafeContractor audit process will still demonstrate that a contractor is competent, compliant, and financially stable. We’ll continue to support contractors throughout the journey.
• Reduce resources spent on onsite management: The enhancements allow clients to focus on managing onsite risks (e.g., bad practices, non-conformance) rather than chasing paperwork to get contractors onsite.

Impact for contractors

Contractors are at the centre of our assessment’s evolution. We understand the crucial role they play within supply chains and the challenges they face in demonstrating compliance. That’s why we have simplified our assessment for them.

Contractors will benefit from:

• Quicker certification process: We have reduced our questionnaire for micro contractors (businesses with less than five employees) and solo contractors by up to 30%. The simplified questionnaire, tailored to a contractor’s work activity, still aligns with SSIP but can significantly reduce the administrative time spent on the assessment.
• Dedicated support: Our onboarding team will guide your supply chain contractors to compliance. We’ve helped over 37,000 contractors achieve SafeContractor certification, addressing all queries along the way.
• Exclusive member benefits: We have partnered with leading organisations to offer our members exclusive benefits that can save them up to £2000 a year.

Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) changes

What is SSIP?

Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) is an organisation that promotes mutual recognition between health and safety assessment schemes, helping suppliers demonstrate compliance with health and safety regulations.

How SafeContractor aligns with SSIP

SafeContractor has been at the forefront of proportionate approaches to risk assessment, and the latest update to the SSIP core criteria mirrors the improvements our technical team has been working on behind the scenes.

What this means for SSIP

These changes reinforce SSIP’s position as a critical facilitator of safety and compliance in procurement. By simplifying the process, aligning with the SSIP core criteria becomes more accessible.

Future implications for SSIP

Going forward, these changes indicate a potential shift towards a more proportionate approach in all aspects of SSIP assessments.

Conclusion

The upcoming changes to our questionnaire and the updates to SSIP will benefit both contractors and hiring organisations by simplifying the certification process and addressing challenges faced by smaller businesses. These changes will lead to quicker procurement processes, reduced administration, and improved safety standards.

Staying informed about these changes is crucial for enhancing procurement efficiency and safety practices. At Alcumus SafeContractor, we are committed to supporting you through these updates and ensuring your compliance journey is smooth and beneficial.

• The enhancement to our questionnaire will not compromise a contractor’s ability to demonstrate compliance.
• The enhancements create opportunities for hiring organisations to advance their social value business objectives.
• The enhancements simplify the approval process for contractors.
• SafeContractor aligns with the latest SSIP core criteria update, designed for smaller businesses.

By understanding and adapting to these updates, businesses can benefit from:

• Quicker and more efficient procurement processes
• Reduced administrative burdens.
• Improved safety standards.

At Alcumus SafeContractor, we are here to guide you through these changes. Join SafeContractor today and showcase your commitment to being a safe, stable, and ethical business to hundreds of organisations.