April 2004 Passport to Safety The lead trade body for the independent engineering inspection industry, the Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed), has launched its much anticipated Health & Safety Passport Scheme. The special event took place at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Birmingham on 25th March, and featured contributions from both the HSE and RoSPA. The scheme has been designed to provide an 'access all workplaces' safety passport for Engineer Surveyors employed by SAFed member companies. Whilst a number of Health & Safety Passport schemes already exist, there has been a distinct lack of reciprocity between the various scheme providers. This has created problems for workplace duty holders and engineer surveyors alike, with the potential for the latter needing to hold a number of different safety passports to carry out their inspection activities. Richard Morgan is SAFed's Technical Director and one of the chief architects of the scheme. He commented. "Workplace duty holders can have full confidence that any Engineer Surveyor holding a SAFed Health & Safety Passport has the appropriate health and safety knowledge to undertake their designated duties in a demonstrably safe manner. Holders of a SAFed Health & Safety Passport should therefore not be required to possess any other industry safety passports to gain access to their clients' diverse workplaces." Before being awarded a SAFed Health & Safety Passport, Engineer Surveyors undergo an extensive and individualised training programme. This training is aimed at providing Engineer Surveyors with a high level of Health & Safety awareness applicable to both their clients' industries and also the range of inspection activities which they are authorised to undertake. To ensure that consistently high standards are maintained, all SAFed member companies operating the Scheme will undergo an annual compliance assessment by RoSPA's Training and Consultancy Services Department. Following a review of the Scheme by the HSE, their Head of Hazards and Technical Policy Division, Dr Bill Gillan commented. "HSE views Health and Safety Passport schemes as being an important way of improving Health & Safety. They really can make a difference. We applaud initiatives such as the SAFed Scheme which is designed to both improve and also demonstrate the appropriate health and safety awareness of SAFed member company Engineer Surveyors. The HSE also encourages agreement and mutual recognition between the providers of the many schemes in operation, so as to avoid the needless duplication of effort." Ends Back to Press Release Index