Clients
Clients, commonly referred to as Buyers have a key responsibility which they share with their Suppliers for the health and safety of everyone who works at their premises or site.
This means that Clients must make sure that any Suppliers they appoint are competent to do their work.
For construction work, clients have a legal obligation to carry out health and safety assessments, as set out in the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Beyond construction, clients are similarly responsible and are now looking towards SSIP Forum Member Schemes to complete their health and safety evaluations during the pre-qualification process.
By utilising an SSIP Forum Member Scheme for the initial assessment, clients can focus on the second stage of the procurement process, which verifies that suppliers possess the necessary experience, trained staff and resources to meet specific project needs.
Mutual Recognition underpins SSIP’s mission to reduce assessment duplication.
Since all SSIP Member Schemes adhere to the SSIP Core Criteria, suppliers benefit from mutual recognition across different forum members.
You can gain mutual recognition of member certification with both Registered Members and Supporter Members using the Deem to Satisfy [DTS] route.
This process significantly reduces the time spent waiting for a supplier to be re-assessed by your preferred scheme.
In 2023 alone, over £10 million was saved by Suppliers and Buyers using Mutual Recognition.
Confirm the certification of a supplier using the SSIP Portal.
The SSIP Portal features over 84,000 suppliers and details the SSIP approved certification they hold. This free service allows clients to easily verify a supplier’s competency by searching their company name.
In doing so, you can confirm that a supplier has been assessed by an SSIP member schemes and has demonstrated compliance with health and safety legislation. Utilising the SSIP portal verify competence saves significant time and eliminates the requirement to conduct internal health and safety assessments.
Registered Members and Certification Body Members carry out assessments against the SSIP core criteria taking into consideration the relevant SSIP categories and/or dutyholder roles.
Suppliers approved by an SSIP Forum Member Scheme demonstrate they hold organisational capability to undertake works and can be verified directly with the SSIP Portal.