SMAS Worksafe Documents and Requirements

SMAS Worksafe is a contractor health and safety assessment scheme run by Safety Management Advisory Services Ltd, part of the Citation group. As a Registered Member of SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement), its certificate is recognised by other SSIP schemes, including CHAS and SafeContractor.

The assessment checks your business against the SSIP Core Criteria, condensed into around ten questions reviewed by SMAS assessors. A successful application earns a certificate valid for 12 months, and SMAS advertises certification in as little as one day, within an overall window of one to ten days.

To pass, you need a signed and dated health and safety policy, documented arrangements, evidence of competent advice, training records, risk assessments and method statements, and records covering monitoring, accidents, sub-contractors and welfare. This guide covers each document in turn.

Assessments by SSIP Registered Members are treated as equivalent. You can check any scheme's status on the SSIP members directory.

The SMAS Worksafe Certificates

SMAS offers four main routes, and most contractors only need the first. Pricing is banded by employee numbers, so treat the figures below as starting points; details are published on the SMAS SSIP accreditation page.

• Worksafe (SSIP): the core certificate, from around £317 to £345 depending on business size, with an advertised turnaround of 1 to 10 days and validity of 12 months.
• Worksafe Plus (formerly PQQ): adds environmental and quality management, financial and business standing, and corporate and professional standing, with optional ESG and Building Safety Act endorsement modules. From around £523 to £565.
• Worksafe Pro (CAS): Common Assessment Standard certification, launched by SMAS in 2025, covering wider areas such as financial standing, quality, equality and information security. From around £679 to £725, with a turnaround of roughly 7 to 10 days.
• Deem to Satisfy: a reduced-cost route for contractors who already hold a valid SSIP assessment with another member scheme and want a SMAS certificate without a full re-assessment.

Worksafe Pro reflects the growing use of the Common Assessment Standard in public procurement following PPN 03/24.

The SSIP Core Criteria SMAS Assesses

The official SSIP Core Criteria run to 16 areas, from health and safety policy and organisation through to fleet operations. The full list is published on the SSIP Core Criteria page.

For a typical contractor, the criteria centre on how you manage health and safety in practice: policy and organisation, day-to-day arrangements, competent advice, training, risk assessment, monitoring and review, accident reporting, workforce consultation, sub-contractor management and welfare.

SSIP is specific on one point that catches many applicants out. The policy statement of intent must be signed by the Managing Director or equivalent and dated within the previous 12 months.

Preparing Your Application

Gathering the evidence usually takes longer than the application itself. Work through it in this order.

1. Update and Sign Your Health and Safety Policy

Check the statement of intent is signed at the right level and dated within the last 12 months. The organisation section should set out roles, responsibilities and the chain of command, and the arrangements should reflect the work you actually do.

2. Gather Competence and Training Evidence

Identify who provides your competent health and safety advice, in-house or an external consultant, with evidence of their competence such as qualifications or a consultancy agreement. Pull together induction records, training certificates, CSCS cards and trade qualifications that match the work you are declaring.

3. Collect Recent Risk Assessments and Monitoring Records

Assessors want recent, work-specific risk assessments and method statements, not generic templates. Add evidence that you monitor performance, such as site inspections, audits and toolbox talks, and show how findings feed back into your system.

4. Compile Accident, Sub-contractor and Welfare Evidence

Provide your accident records and RIDDOR reporting procedure, including any reportable incidents or enforcement action over the previous three years. Document how you select and monitor sub-contractors, how you consult your workforce, and how you provide adequate welfare facilities on site, as CDM 2015 requires.

Fewer Than Five Employees and the Written Policy Rule

Section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to prepare a written statement of their health and safety policy and the arrangements for carrying it out. The Employers' Health and Safety Policy Statements (Exception) Regulations 1975 except employers with fewer than five employees.

HSE guidance puts it plainly: below five employees you do not have to write your policy down, although it is useful to do so. The same threshold applies to recording the significant findings of your risk assessments; see the HSE page on preparing a health and safety policy.

Accreditation is stricter than the legal minimum. SSIP expects organisations with fewer than five personnel to provide proportionate documented evidence against the Core Criteria, and an applicant without written arrangements should at least be able to describe how they identify hazards and produce safe systems of work. In practice, a short written policy makes the assessment far easier.

How SMAS Compares with CHAS and SafeContractor

Because all three are SSIP Registered Members, the certificates carry mutual recognition. The choice usually comes down to cost, speed and which scheme your buyers name on their tender lists.

SMAS Worksafe starts from around £317 to £345 and advertises certification in 1 to 10 days, with certificates delivered within 3 to 5 days of approval.

Veriforce CHAS packages start at £429 per year plus VAT for CHAS Standard, rising to £659 for Advanced and £909 for Elite, its Common Assessment Standard tier. A two-day assessment turnaround is available, but only with the optional CHAS Assist add-on.

Alcumus SafeContractor starts from £419 per year on its Standard plan, with assessment review within 20 working days. Faster review means the Express or Premier plans, from £489 and £544 at two working days, and every plan adds a one-off joining fee.

If you already hold a valid SSIP assessment elsewhere, the Deem to Satisfy route avoids paying for a second full assessment.

Quick Reference

Document	What SMAS assessors expect
Health and safety policy	Signed by the Managing Director or equivalent, dated within the last 12 months, roles and responsibilities defined.
Arrangements	How the policy is delivered day to day, proportionate to your size and work.
Competent advice	A named in-house competent person or external consultant, with evidence of their competence.
Training records	Induction and job-specific training, certificates, CSCS cards and trade qualifications matching the work declared.
Risk assessments and method statements	Recent, work-specific RAMS leading to safe systems of work.
Monitoring and review	Site inspections, audits and toolbox talks, with findings fed back into the system.
Accident reporting	Accident records and a RIDDOR procedure, covering incidents and enforcement action over the last three years.
Workforce consultation	How employees are consulted, such as safety representatives, meetings or briefings.
Sub-contractor management	How sub-contractors are selected, vetted and monitored, including SSIP checks and RAMS review.
Welfare provision	How adequate welfare facilities are provided on sites and projects, in line with CDM 2015.

Common Reasons Assessments Fail

• A statement of intent that is unsigned, signed at the wrong level, or dated over 12 months ago.
• Generic risk assessments and method statements that do not reflect the work declared on the application.
• No evidence of competent health and safety advice, or a consultant named without proof of competence.
• Training records that do not match the trades and activities the business says it carries out.
• No monitoring evidence, such as site inspection records or toolbox talk registers.
• No documented procedure for vetting and monitoring sub-contractors.
• Micro-businesses relying on the legal exemption and submitting nothing in writing, when SSIP expects proportionate documented evidence.

How Policy Pros Can Help

We write the documents SMAS assessors ask for: a policy with a proper statement of intent, organisation and arrangements sections, work-specific risk assessments and method statements, and supporting procedures for monitoring, accident reporting and sub-contractor control. Our health and safety policies service covers the core policy, and our construction policies and procedures service covers CDM duties, RAMS and site documentation.

If you are weighing up SMAS against CHAS, SafeContractor or another scheme, our SSIP accreditation policies guide explains the Core Criteria in full and the document pack that satisfies any Registered Member.

If your application has been returned with gaps, send us the assessor feedback and we will bring the documents up to standard for resubmission.