We recently had a conversation with an engineering manager, about quoting for a DSEAR assessment to be completed in the business he worked for. This was a large business with a very well-known brand name and he had been trying to get his senior management team to agree to the assessment for a number of years.
They were firstly concerned as to whether the assessment was indeed necessary; which on discussion it clearly was. Secondly they were assuming the costs would be astronomically high; which they needn’t be. As we talked through what was needed it was apparent they just needed to find the right provider.
DSEAR is a specialist service and requires a high degree of competence; so it’s something you will not find provided by your standard health & safety consultancy. Sometimes it is possible to do in house but remember that important word: Competence. If you don’t get this right it may be a very costly mistake.
If you do look for a specialist provider you need to be aware that some will look to charge very premium prices. They do this because they see themselves as premium level specialists in that they provide DSEAR services to high risk sectors such as petroleum refineries. They take this same level of pricing across to other businesses even though the risk factors are often much lower. We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been asked words to the effect of “how are your charges three times lower than these large international consultants?”.
So please be aware that yes, you do need to get COMPETENT advice; but importantly you don’t need to pay high end pricing in many instances. Take the time to fully check out your options before making a decision.
