Press releases

UWE Recognises Value in SAFEcontractor Scheme

The University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol has signed-up to the SAFEcontractor scheme to ensure its contractors are complying with the highest standards of health and safety.

UWE has around 30,000 students and 3,000 staff who live, work and study at four campuses in and around Bristol. The maintenance of the large and varied estate requires considerable management to ensure that any work completed is up to the necessary standard and that health and safety regulations are being adhered to.

In 2008 the university completed around 18,000 reactive maintenance tasks and undertook £3.5 million worth of refurbishment projects.

UWE is currently undergoing a master planning exercise which will lead to a £150 million project to expand and remodel its Frenchay campus, the main university site situated four miles north of Bristol city centre. The expansion will provide new facilities for teaching and learning as well as conference facilities to bolster the university’s involvement with the local business community.

Businesses and organisations have a legal obligation to ensure that any external contractors and service providers they appoint are competent to undertake the work safely and UWE is strongly committed to this.

Nick Bell, Construction Safety Manager for the Estates Office at UWE, said: “ An estate of this size requires us to make use of a large number of smaller contractors while also making sure they are competent.

“After completing some in-house assessments, I realised that I didn’t have the time to manage this process effectively, particularly when some contractors require guidance to address gaps in their procedures. I also recognised that contractors themselves find it very frustrating to continually complete different forms for different clients.”

Nick Bell soon realised he required a robust method for checking competence that also prevented unnecessary duplication for the contractors and helped them address any minor shortfalls. Consequently, he began to look at the different third party safety accreditation schemes in the market.

SAFEcontractor is a third party accreditation scheme that assesses the health and safety competence of contractors and service providers.

“It didn't take me long to realise that SAFEcontractor was the right solution" Mr Bell added. "Their own staff are professionally qualified, their feedback to contractors is helpful and they can tailor the process to meet the specific needs of the client.

“For example, the university has a minimum value of public liability insurance and SAFEcontractor can also check this. The ability for me to review contractor’s status online, the monthly update reports, and their quick response to any queries makes the scheme ideal for us. To date, around 50% of our smaller contractors have completed the process and I have found that they understand and value the benefits of becoming accredited with SAFEcontractor."

Darran Hughes, Business Unit Director for SAFEcontractor, said: “Major organisations like universities can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies. More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that UWE has done. Their high standard has set an example which, hopefully, will be followed by other organisations within the education sector.”

Under the SAFEcontractor system, 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: www.safecontractor.com.

SAFEcontractor now has over 17,000 contractor members from more than 120 work sectors that have been audited by one of the company’s professional auditors. There are now more than 130 clients signed up to use the services of these contractors, including some of the UK’s biggest blue-chip organisations.



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