Proving competency to inspect equipment.

[stephen1974]

The folks I work for have decided that they don't want to pay for independant people to come in and inspect their facilities. To be fair it will cost them £3.5k to £4.5k depending on who they go with so I can see their reluctance. Instead they want a contractor they already use for odds and sods maintenance work to do the inspections and pay him pennies by comparison, and then in the future they want to under ut all the other companies and farm this guy out.

They want me to get this guy competent and accreditated with whoever he needs to be accreditated with in order for other companies to take him seriously.

Now, the industry is new and there is no official body that you can get accredited with, so thats an issue in itself, however, the main issue is the old 'you need accreditation to get work but you cant get accreditation without experience'

I think he will need ISO 17020 - anyone able to give advice on getting this? I did download some criteria from somewhere who approves ISO accreditation?

What other things should I be looking at for him? I don't think there are any qualifications he can take.

[Waterbaby]

Bump

WB

[Steve M]

What do you want inspecting?

Health and Safety
Fire
Electrics
compactors
Presses
Environmental impact
Legionella
Asbestos
Gas installations
Ovens

The list goes on

He could probably do a premises risk assessment with a certificate level qualification but would struggle with dealing with the findings.

I wouldn't pay an odd job man to do a risk assessment on any of my sites no matter how cheap he was, in fact, if he was that much cheaper I would avoid him like the plague.

[stephen1974]

Trampolines, the beds, the springs, the frame work, air bags, foam pits, padding, other areas.

This isnt risk assessments. This is equipment inspections.

ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation to organisations performing various types of inspection, surveys and risk assessments:

Engineering Inspection (including Pressure Systems, lifting equipment/Hoists, electrical installations, power presses, local exhaust ventilation, cargo / pre-shipment inspection, manufacture of boilers / pressure vessels, welding inspections, oil and gas metering)
Building and Construction Products
Food Inspection (food safety, food hygiene, manufacturing and processed practices, cargo inspection, animal welfare, labelling)
Asbestos Surveys
Legionella Risk Assessments
Health and Social Care
Care Home Inspection
Nuclear New Build Inspection
Fire Protection Systems
Crime Scene Examination
Railway Competence
Plant Health
Environmental Technology Verification

In this case it would be the top two parts that are relevnt. I think i've found an organisation who can give me more information though.

[Steve M]

The way I have done it is.

Complete a premises risk assessment if you don't already have one, this will highlight anything that needs inspection and/or testing.

Create a risk assessment for anything highlighted, this will identify if inspection or maintenance is required (You should already have these).

If a periodic inspection has been identified as a requirement contact the manufacturer of the equipment (or Distributor if they perform maintenance) and request inspection training, they will be able to issue you a certificate that you have successfully completed training.

Depending on how big your company is there may be a charge, I can usually wangle free training because we have many sites.