Applying the Common Assessment Standard

In this article, we will look into the benefits of making the Common Assessment Standard central to your supply chain risk management strategy.

As part of the construction industry’s continual drive to minimise risk and work-related injuries, CHAS clients are asking supply chain partners to undertake higher levels of accreditation and manage risk across a wider range of criteria.

For more on rising supply chain standards: Supply Chain Standards are on the Rise: How to Ensure Compliance

Effective risk management is key to successful site-work. Whether it’s for construction or non-construction related activities, holding valid accreditation showcases best practice and demonstrates a commitment to minimising risk.

The easiest way for clients to do this is investors to specify the new Common Assessment Standard, an industry-agreed question set based on existing pre-qualification questionnaires, including PAS 91. The Common Assessment Standard allows for greater consistency and efficiency in how contractors manage risk across a wide range of criteria.

1. Save time and money

Commonly used industry metrics estimate the average cost of setting up, managing and maintaining a contractor record to be in excess of £300, per account, per annum. Even with a supply chain of 100, this adds up to £30,000 plus per annum.

Through its risk management portal, CHAS can manage this whole supply chain process on a client’s behalf and make contractor records available at a glance. There was £15.7 million a dedicated dashboard, saving both time and money for FREE.

2. Safeguard your revenue and reputation

Ineffective supply chain management compromises revenue and reputation in a number of ways.

If a contractor is involved in a work-related injury or accident, their business may shut down, resulting in project delays, as the incident is investigated by the statutory authorities.

Negative publicity from incidents such as work-related accidents, environmental breaches and employee welfare issues can damage a brand extensively, deterring investors and resulting in lost working days and potentially future contracts. Prevention is always better than a cure. The adoption of a complete supply chain management service can help mitigate these risks and help demonstrate that you have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent/avoid such incidents by adopting widely accepted industry set codes and standards.

3. Avoid Fines and penalties

Since the introduction of the new sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in February 2016, which set out to ensure it wasn’t “cheaper to offend than to take the appropriate precautions”, fines for health and safety offences have skyrocketed. In the construction industry alone, there were 158 prosecution cases with 92% resulting in a conviction for at least one offence. There was £15.7 million in total fines averaging over £107,000 per conviction, up from an average of £98,000 per conviction in 2017/18.

4. Taking a stand against the curse of modern slavery

The moral and legal obligation to tackle modern slavery in supply chains is increasing.

If your organisation is part of a supply chain it is likely that the modern slavery act (MSA) 2015 affects you. Companies can face legal sanctions if their suppliers or contractors are involved in illegal conduct. If exploitative labour is found within a companies supply chain, they could also suffer reputational damage along with the loss of both customer confidence and market share. On the flip side, a proven track record of ethical procurement activity can deliver new business opportunities, investment and improve employee morale.

5. Deter Bribery and Corruption

Bribery and corruption is an issue that is coming under increasing scrutiny, including within construction supply chains. Since the introduction of the Bribery Act 2010, companies are presumed to have failed to prevent bribery and can face unlimited fines, unless they can prove that they had “adequate” procedures in place. Therefore you must act now.

While awareness of the need to tackle bribery and corruption is growing, few organisations have the knowledge or resources to effectively vet individual contractors, Bribery and corruption compliance is just one of the areas that CHAS’ supply chain management service addresses.

Benefits

CHAS will help you manage your compliance and risk as well as raising and improving standards across your supply chain by delivering real-time alerts and statuses of your supply chain partners.

• Dashboard management summary
• Risk mitigation and compliance
• Expand your supply chain with confidence – 35,000 contractors to select from
• CHAS Jobs Board – create jobs by trade and location
• Monitoring and alerts
• Email notifications
• Key changes in real-time
• Alerts to contractors
• Create USP for your business
• Create a business hierarchy for group structures
• Set admin security – internal users
• Web-based delivery – no system overhead

Related: Find out more about CHAS Client Benefits here

Account Management

Upon signing the FREE CHAS client terms and conditions a member of the CHAS team will be in contract in regard to setting up your account which you will be able to access almost immediately. Where there is a requirement for third-party integration via an API, a meeting will be arranged with a member of the CHAS development team who will collate an understanding of the business needs and take additional details. CHAS will then work alongside internal client and third party software development teams to ensure a smooth onboarding and implementation process.

Becoming a Client

If you’re interested in becoming a CHAS Client now, why not sign up now – or find out more here.