ESSA Accredited, the quality assurance programme, launched by ESSA at its conference on 28 November 2019, has already had 25 member companies commit to becoming ESSA Accredited.

The independently audited programme has been warmly welcomed by a number of organisations across the industry including ESSA members, venues and organisers alike.

ESSA director, Andrew Harrison, explains, “We had a strong indication that members were keen to start the process of becoming accredited, however, I was not expecting such a rapid take-up over the festive period.”

ESSA Accredited is an annual company-level H&S qualification, independently audited and provides demonstrable proof that a member company is operating at, and its management systems are at the required level, to meet agreed industry standards. Whilst for those companies involved in construction, it additionally measures against stage one requirements of assessing competence under CDM 2015

The association has recently appointed Josh Taylor to the position of health & safety project manager and Taylor will be managing the accreditation process.

“With future plans to roll out requirements for sustainability credentials to align with those of ISO20121 (Sustainability in Event Management), for which event businesses are increasingly being asked, including policy statements on the environment and inclusivity. ESSA Accredited is not only for design & build and construction-related members, but it also provides for those member companies that are not involved in construction-related activities, they can apply for a ‘non-construction related’ accreditation,” added Harrison.

“The accreditation process is free of charge to any ESSA member company, we believe that it is a cornerstone of membership and the process could not be easier, it is accessed via a bespoke, online portal that will allow members to manage their progress through to accreditation. We are now looking forward to announcing our first ESSA Accredited Member,” he concluded.