Terms & Conditions
Table of Contents
1. Salus Requirements
1.1 The main purpose of Salus Certification
1.2 Salus Certification Membership
Following a received application, prospective Members undergo an initial Health and Safety and compliance audit. Subject to the audit findings, SALUS will inform the contractor if there are non-compliances. Membership is granted following rectification of any non-compliances and upon full payment of annual membership.
1.3 Salus Certification Application
Under each membership there will be four main areas of assessment:
1. Health & Safety:
a. A full evaluation of the contractor’s Health and Safety policies, procedures, processes or other requirements that fulfil the accreditation standard as established by the Safety
Services in Procurement Forum (SSIP)**.
2. Insurances. The contractor will need to demonstrate compliance via:
a. Public Liability Insurance – the contractor has current public liability insurance in a minimum amount of £5million for each occurrence, and;
b. Employer’s Liability Insurance – the contractor has current employer’s liability insurance in a minimum amount for each occurrence which complies with statutory requirements.
3. Trade competency evidences:
a. The contractor will need to demonstrate sufficient evidence of competency in their trade area. An outline for each category will be available soon.
4. Financial credit check:
a. The contractor is solvent and has a turnover of at least £20k.
b. The contractor has a satisfactory credit score from a recognised credit reference agency.
**SALUS agrees to accept a current and valid assessment certificate or letter of compliance from another SSIP Member Scheme as adequate evidence of meeting the Core Criteria or the health and safety module in PAS91, subject to verification. A table of SSIP-accepted accreditations for stage 1 is available on the SALUS website. In the majority of cases, the application will take
between one and 5 days depending on complexity. Confirmation of a valid SSIP certification will reduce audit duration. The Accreditation team will then check the accuracy of the information provided, and distribute to the Health and Safety Assessors for audit and consideration. Following approval, the Accreditation team will send written confirmation of Membership enclosing the annual membership fee invoice and a copy of the membership agreement document which must be signed and returned. On receipt of payment of the annual membership fee and the signed agreement document, the Member will be sent a certificate of membership and the SALUS logo and logo usage guidelines. SALUS will accept applications in hard copy in addition to electronic formats.
The applicant will submit the following documentation to the SALUS CMS:
- Membership Agreement
- Declaration
- Initial application fee
- Evidence of SSIP certification or answers to relevant PAS91 questions.
- Confirmation of agreement to carry out a credit check at intervals decided by SALUS
1.4 Type of Membership:
1.4.1 Bronze Membership:
1.4.2 Gold Membership:
1.5 Conditions of membership
- Any applicant must be free from any substantiated allegation or prosecution of fraud or financial mismanagement.
- Failure to declare the above during any part of an application or renewal process will result in membership being withdrawn without refund.
- Each membership package for SALUS is subject to specific terms and conditions which must be followed to achieve and maintain membership.
- By applying to the SALUS Accreditation Scheme, a prospective Member agrees to the SALUS application and appeals process and agrees that the decision of this process shall be final and not subject to further appeal, representations or legal action.
1.6 SALUS Records kept on its members
1.7 Fees
1.8 Appeals
If the appeal is due to dispute with an audit outcome, in the first instance, an attempt for a resolution between the applicant and the appointed auditor will be required. Members or applicants will be entitled to make written representations to SALUS. If after investigation, the facts remain disputed, the member or applicant may be offered details for independent mediation. The appointed auditor and SALUS shall co-operate fully with any Appeals panel by providing details and facts of relevant information.
After investigation the Appeals Panel will formally advise the contractor of the findings. These findings are final but do not prevent the contractor from proceeding to Law. The Appeals Process is not designed to detract from the rights of a Contractor under Human Rights Legislation, or other Legal Statutes.
1.9 Code of Conduct
Where it becomes apparent that a Member may have deviated from these responsibilities SALUS reserves the right to have the matter investigated.
This may involve SALUS taking a proactive monitoring role, the objective being to ensure that Members maintain transparency at all times. When required to undertake an investigation, members may be required to provide documentary evidence to aid with SALUS’s findings.
On reviewing the findings SALUS will decide on appropriate action to be taken to rectify the situation. This will be communicated, in writing, to the Member in question. Failure on the part of the Member to provide the remedial action will result in Disciplinary Procedures against the Member.
2.0 Maintaining SALUS Membership (Changes effecting eligibility)
2.1 Disciplinary Procedure
All Members agreed to abide by the process below and to accept the decision of SALUS with no further recourse to action, including legal action.
Where a Member is not adhering to the Terms and Conditions, Codes of Conduct or Membership agreement, or where it is felt that through its actions the Member is bringing SALUS, its name or reputation into disrepute, one or more of the following actions will
occur:
- Written Notification – for a minor noncompliance. The Member will be notified in writing
of the non-compliance and asked to rectify the issue(s), within given timescales. - Final Notification–for major non-compliances or failure to rectify continued repeated breaches and/or failure to adequately address an issue previously raised. The Member will receive a final written warning and be asked to address the issue(s) without delay.
Failure to adequately address the issue(s) raised in the Final Written Warning letter, or
where it is deemed that another serious breach has occurred the following action will be taken:
- Suspension from the Scheme for a period of 3 months.
- Withdrawal of Member from the SALUS Scheme. Withdrawal will occur when a member has failed to comply with the 3 months suspension.
All SALUS fees are still due from a suspended or withdrawn Member for that membership year.
2.2 Annual audit of members (Membership Renewal)
2.2.1 The annual audit will be in two parts:
The audit is designed to ensure that an organisations’ operations meet the membership standards of the SSIP. In essence, the audit will verify that any first stage health and safety competence assessment carried out by the organisation is performed to a consistent, reliable, quality controlled and recognised standard.
All costs and associated fees for the audit will be met by the organisation undergoing the audit. In the majority of cases the audit will take between one and 5 days depending on complexity. Confirmation of a valid SSIP certification will reduce audit duration.
Further information regarding the audit process can be found in AC15 Annual Audit.
2.3 Terms and Conditions of Logo Use
- The logo may be used on promotional material
- The logo cannot be reproduced from any other source other than from originals supplied by the Administrator
- The logo must appear in a sensible size and position.
- The logo can be re-sized, providing the lettering remains legible.
2.4 Annual membership fees
SALUS Membership is then subject to accreditation renewal fee paid in advance of the accreditation renewal date.
2.5 Membership Cancellation
In the event a Member decides to leave SALUS, they should notify in writing of their intention to leave, together with the main reason for leaving.
Resignation from SALUS is on the understanding that:
- There will be no refund on any fees currently owed or already paid
- The exiting member will ensure any outstanding fees will be paid in full prior to the date of membership terminating
- All reference to SALUS including logos used by the exiting member will be removed from the member’s website and any other literature within 15 days of
termination of membership.
2.6 Advertising membership
All use of the SALUS logo must be for membership purposes only and use only the official logo(s) made available by SALUS. Use must be in accordance with any guidelines issued from time to time.
2.7 Complaints
In the event of a complaint SALUS will appoint an individual to investigate and produce a report. The Member, as part of the terms of its Membership, agrees to be bound by SALUS’s decision in respect of resolving any complaint.
SALUS will attempt to resolve any issue progressed to this level, however the SALUS will make it clear to the customer that these deliberations do not in any way prevent or obstruct their recourse to Law.
Appendix 1 - Terms & Conditions of Membership
Membership of the Salus Certification is available to contractors complying with the following:
1. Payment of an annual membership fee.
2. Membership is subject to the agreement of SALUS.
3. Membership will be reviewed annually.
4. The member acknowledges that all SALUS membership benefits may be subject to amendment at any time.
5. Having relevance to the remit and workings of SSIP and construction industry Health and Safety.
6. Members shall have due respect to the workings of the Scheme that are considered confidential or sensitive and should be treated as such.
7. Members shall not quote that SALUS endorses any of the member’s products or services.
8. Members may be asked to leave at any time where it is shown that any of the terms and conditions have not been complied with.
Appendix 2 - Salus DMS Guide
Introduction
The SALUS CMS provides an area to upload all relevant documentation for accreditation.
The SALUS CMS serves four distinct sets of users:
- The Member themselves, who need to be able to upload relevant information and documentation.
- The Health and Safety Assessors.
- The client.
- SALUS administrator.
Conditions of use of CMS for the User
- To keep their company logon secret, and not to share it with anyone outside of their own
organisation. - To use the portal only for the purposes for which it is intended.
- Never to use the supplier information on the Portal for any marketing purposes, or for financial or business gain.
- Never to attempt to obtain unauthorised access to the SSIP Portal or portions of the Portal, which may be restricted from their specific logon access.
SALUS will aim to:
- Maintain a record of all successful activities through the portal.
- Take reasonable measures to monitor compliant and ethical usage of data within the system.
