Top safety accreditation for Safety SystemsTechnology

The company's application for Safecontractor status was driven by the fact that the company's Blue Chip client base demands such third party accreditation. According to Mark Smailes, Managing Director of Safety Systems Technology (SST): "Our core focus as a business is machinery safety and our clients in the manufacturing, engineering and industrial sector rely on us for expert work and advice. The Safecontractor accreditation demonstrates, I believe, that our whole approach and the way in which we conduct our business has been given a stamp of approval from a well-recognised third party."

Safecontractor accreditation will enhance the company's ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal. Safecontractor is applicable to most sectors, although it is particularly relevant to food manufacture, property, facilities management, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contracted services.

As Mark Smailes says: "Having recently become an independent company [SST divested itself from TV SD towards the end of 2014] we needed to establish Safecontractor status in our own right and the 3-month process has involved a thorough review of all of our personnel, practices and certifications. It's a significant investment for SST but we feel that it makes our customers' lives easier, and makes us easy to do business with, and to that end it's well worth it."

John Kinge, technical director of Safecontractor says: "Major organisations simply cannot afford to run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies in place. More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that SST has done. The firm's high standard has set an example which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector. Safecontractor plays a vital role in supporting our clients in meeting their compliance needs, whilst working with their contractors as they progress through the accreditation process."

Under the Safecontractor scheme, businesses undergo a vetting process which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website.

Client organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These clients agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation. Over 210 major, nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

For further information about the company's accreditation from Safecontractor, please visit: www.safetysys.co.uk.