Contractors May be Required to Obtain Compulsory HSE Passports

Fancy the idea of compulsory pre-contract health and safety training? Many PAYE umbrella contractors faced with this stark question will be unable to suppress a groan of tedium and an immediate feeling of aversion. However, if Guy Shrecker, the General Manager of the company HSE Passport, has his way, this could well be on the cards for all who work through umbrella companies or limited companies.

Before that stress-and-anger vein starts throbbing in your temple, though, it might be worth considering the advantages of Shrecker’s suggestion. He believes recruiters should make it obligatory for contractors to hold an HSE passport. Why is this a good idea?

Like it or not, as most jobbing contractors can testify, there is no way of eluding health and safety training. Employers usually insist on making contractors undergo costly and time-consuming in-house safety training courses before they can begin work. The ‘passport’ Mr Shrecker’s firm issues is recognised by employers as a stamp of health and safety readiness, and contractors carrying it can begin paid work immediately. Moreover, they can carry the passport from project to project, enabling them to avoid repeated (and achingly boring) safety induction courses before they can start earning. It’s beginning to sound a little nicer now, isn’t it?

If recruiters adopt Mr Shrecker’s advice, droves of contractors could well find themselves taking HSE Passport training courses over the next few months. If it means avoiding delays in beginning work (and getting paid), it should be mutually beneficial to contractors and employers alike. Not to mention the HSE Passport firm, of course.

Source

http://www.umbrellacompanies.org/2012/01/26/should-all-contractors-hold-an-hse-passport/