Frequently Asked Questions
Find straightforward answers about our services, software and how we work no jargon.
What would you like to know?
This page covers the questions we hear most often from businesses thinking about working with us from the competent person requirement and what a health and safety audit involves, through to how Safety Mate® works and how our pricing is structured.
We have grouped the questions by topic so you can jump straight to what matters to you. If your question is not covered here, just call us on 0333 335 5187 or send a message through our contact page and we will be happy to talk it through.
About Safety Assistance and how we work
What does Safety Assistance do?
Safety Assistance Limited is a UK health and safety consultancy that combines expert advisory services with practical software. On the consultancy side we help businesses understand their risks, meet their legal obligations, improve their safety management systems and handle documentation such as RAMS, audits and assessments. We also develop and support Safety Mate®, a health and safety management platform, and Fast RAMS, a mobile app for creating RAMS quickly on site. The combination means we can support you from initial advice right through to the day-to-day tools your team uses.
What kind of businesses do you work with?
We work best with businesses that have meaningful health and safety risk and a genuine desire to manage it properly. That typically means organisations with five to five hundred or more employees, multiple workers, contractors, sites or projects, and regular requirements for RAMS, inspections, audits, training or incident management. We work across construction, mechanical and electrical, logistics, agriculture, arboriculture, and hospitality and events, and we are happy to talk to any business that wants practical rather than box-ticking support.
Where do you work?
We are based in Liverpool and provide services nationwide across the UK. Most consultancy work can be delivered remotely where appropriate, and we travel to client sites when needed.
What qualifications does the team hold?
Our founder, Stephen Shields, holds Chartered Member of IOSH (CMIOSH), the NEBOSH Diploma, NEBOSH Fire, and is a Lead Auditor for ISO 45001 and ISO 9001. The wider team are members of IOSH and hold relevant safety qualifications and experience in the fields they are assigned to.
What insurance do you hold?
We hold Professional Indemnity insurance of £5 million and Public Liability insurance of £10 million.
What are your working hours?
Our standard hours are Monday to Friday 08:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 16:00. We are closed on Sundays. An out-of-hours emergency contact number is available to active clients where extended support is required.
Health and safety law and the competent person requirement
Do I legally need a health and safety competent person?
Under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers are required to appoint one or more competent persons to assist them in meeting their health and safety obligations. A competent person is someone with sufficient training, experience and knowledge to help the business manage its risks effectively. This is a legal duty that applies to virtually all employers, regardless of size or sector.
What does 'competent' mean in this context?
Competence in health and safety means having the combination of training, experience, knowledge and other qualities needed to carry out the role effectively. It is not simply about holding a qualification, although relevant qualifications are an important indicator. The level of competence required will depend on the nature and complexity of the risks in your business.
Can an external consultant act as our competent person?
Yes. The law allows employers to appoint an external competent person where they do not have sufficient in-house expertise. Safety Assistance can act as your appointed competent health and safety advisor, providing the support your business needs to meet this requirement. We issue a certificate of appointment to clients as a standard deliverable. Our competent advisor service is available on a retained basis with a twelve-month minimum term.
What happens if we do not have a competent person in place?
We would rather not use scare tactics here. What we will say is that the duty exists in law and that not having appropriate competent support in place leaves a business without the guidance it needs to manage risk properly. If you are unsure whether your current arrangements are adequate, a conversation with us costs nothing.
Our services - consultancy, RAMS, audits and assessments
What is a RAMS and when do I need one?
RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement. A risk assessment identifies the hazards in a task and the controls needed to manage them; a method statement sets out how the work will be carried out safely. RAMS are commonly required for construction and maintenance work, contractor activities and any task with significant risk. They are also a standard requirement under CDM 2015 for construction projects. We can produce RAMS for you or help your team create them using Fast RAMS. See our RAMS and Documentation page for more detail.
What does a health and safety audit involve?
A health and safety audit is a structured review of how well your organisation is managing safety against a recognised framework such as HSG65, ISO 45001 or ISO 9001, or against any applicable standards relevant to your business. Our audits include a pre-audit document review as standard, a full-day on-site or remote assessment, a written report with findings and recommendations, and a follow-up close-out review. We offer both on-site and remote desktop audits. Visit our Audits and Inspections page for more information.
What is a fire risk assessment and who needs one?
A fire risk assessment is a systematic examination of your premises to identify fire hazards, evaluate the risk to people and determine what controls are needed. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person for most non-domestic premises to carry out and regularly review a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. We carry out fire risk assessments for residential buildings, offices, warehouses, licensed premises, HMOs and construction sites. See our Fire Safety page for more detail.
Do you support CDM projects?
Yes. We provide CDM advisory support and principal contractor support for construction projects. We do not act as Principal Designer. If you are unsure what CDM duties apply to your project, our Construction and CDM page explains the key roles and how we can help.
What is COSHH and do you carry out COSHH assessments?
COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. The COSHH Regulations 2002 require employers to assess the risks from hazardous substances used or produced in the workplace and put appropriate controls in place. We carry out COSHH assessments covering chemicals and non-chemical hazardous substances, including a review of safety data sheets, control measure recommendations and health surveillance guidance. Assessments can be carried out on site, remotely where all relevant information is available, or a combination of both. See our COSHH Assessments page for more.
Safety Mate® our health and safety management platform
What is Safety Mate®?
Safety Mate® is a web and mobile health and safety management platform developed by Safety Assistance Limited. It replaces the mix of spreadsheets, paper forms, Word documents and shared folders that many businesses rely on, bringing everything into one system. It is used by over ten thousand users across more than one hundred and fifty companies worldwide.
Who is Safety Mate® for?
Safety Mate® is designed for businesses that need to manage safety properly across multiple workers, sites, contractors or projects. Typical users include health and safety managers, operations managers, directors, supervisors and frontline workers. It is available as a standalone product or alongside Safety Assistance consultancy services, and can be configured for small teams through to large multi-site organisations.
What can Safety Mate® do?
Safety Mate® handles risk assessments and RAMS, incident and near-miss reporting, audits and inspections, corrective actions, COSHH records, equipment and asset management, pre-use checks, training and competency records, safety documents, briefings and digital signatures. It also includes AI-assisted drafting for risk assessments and policies, and supports translation into more than thirty languages. Any AI-generated content is a draft for a competent person to review and approve before use.
Is there a mobile app?
Yes. Safety Mate® has an iOS and Android mobile app that allows workers to report incidents, complete inspections, view and sign safety documents, scan equipment QR codes and work offline before syncing when a connection is restored.
How do we get started with Safety Mate®?
The best starting point is to book a demo at safetymate.co.uk/book-demo. We will discuss your organisation's structure and requirements, provide a tailored proposal and help you configure and roll out the system. Pricing is tailored to your organisation following a discovery call.
Fast RAMS - quick RAMS on site
What is Fast RAMS?
Fast RAMS is a mobile-first app from Safety Assistance Limited for creating, managing, signing and sharing Risk Assessments and Method Statements quickly. It is designed for people who need to produce RAMS regularly, often directly from site, without spending hours assembling documents manually.
Who is Fast RAMS for?
Fast RAMS is aimed primarily at contractors, site managers, construction professionals and health and safety managers who need to produce RAMS efficiently. It is available as a standalone product you do not need to be a Safety Assistance consultancy client to use it.
How does it work?
Fast RAMS guides users through a five-stage process covering project details, risks, methodology, resources and sign-off. It includes pre-populated hazards and control measures, risk scoring, digital signatures and approval workflows, PDF export with company branding, cloud storage and an audit trail. It also supports COSHH assessments. The app is available on iOS and Android and works offline, syncing when a connection is restored. Users can typically produce a completed RAMS document in under ten minutes.
Is there a free version?
Yes. The free tier allows you to create one RAMS document and includes cloud storage and digital signatures. The Unlimited plan is £9.99 per month and includes unlimited RAMS, PDF export, company branding and priority support. You can find Fast RAMS at fastrams.com.
How is Fast RAMS different from Safety Mate?
Fast RAMS is the lightweight, mobile-focused tool for people who primarily need to create and manage RAMS quickly on site. Safety Mate is the broader health and safety management system covering a much wider range of organisational safety processes including incidents, audits, training records, equipment management and more. Some organisations use both.
Accreditation support - CHAS, SSIP, ISO and others
Which accreditation schemes do you support?
We support businesses applying for CHAS, SMAS Worksafe, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SSIP, RISQS, ISO 45001 and ISO 9001. We are also an approved Once For All compliance partner. If you are working towards a scheme not listed here, get in touch and we can discuss whether we can help.
What does accreditation support involve?
We review your existing documentation and systems, identify any gaps against the scheme requirements, help you prepare the necessary policies, procedures and evidence, and support you through the application process. Pre-audit document review and a follow-up close-out review are included as standard. We aim to have documentation ready for application submission within seven to ten working days, though this can be up to twenty-eight days depending on the complexity of your organisation and how much work is needed to get everything right.
Do you guarantee we will pass?
We do not promise a pass, and we would be cautious of any provider that does. What we commit to is working with you to achieve a good level of compliance and to continuously improve your systems so that you are in the strongest possible position for your application and for ongoing certification.
How long does accreditation support take?
We aim to have your documentation ready for application submission within seven to ten working days. For more complex organisations, or where significant work is needed to bring systems up to the required standard, this can take up to twenty-eight days. We will give you a realistic picture of timescales at the outset.
Pricing and getting started
How much does health and safety consultancy cost?
We do not publish a fixed price list because the right level of support varies significantly between organisations. Our pricing is transparent and based on your organisation's specific requirements, which we establish during a free discovery call. There is no obligation attached to that conversation.
How do we get started?
The simplest first step is to get in touch. Call us on 0333 335 5187, email info@safetyassistance.co.uk or use the contact form on our website. We will arrange a free discovery call to understand your situation, scope what you need and provide a clear proposal.
Do you offer ongoing support or one-off projects?
We offer both. Many clients work with us on a retained basis – for example, as their appointed competent health and safety advisor, which has a twelve-month minimum term. We also take on one-off project engagements such as individual audits, fire risk assessments, COSHH assessments or accreditation support. We are happy to discuss whichever model suits your situation.
What industries do you work in?
We work across construction, mechanical and electrical, logistics, agriculture, arboriculture, and hospitality and events. Many of our clients operate across more than one of these sectors. If your industry is not listed, please get in touch – we are happy to discuss whether we can help.
Still have a question?
If you have not found what you are looking for, get in touch. We are happy to talk through your situation without any obligation.