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SCC Certification – Safety Certificate for Contractors

Prüfzeichen SCC und SCP

Your SCC certificate for occupational health and safety tailored to your needs

Safety Certificate for Contractors: Certification under this occupational health, safety, and environmental protection standard (SGU) is aimed at manufacturing and service companies. It is specifically designed for contractors who regularly provide services or carry out work in industrial estates and factories. 

The SCC certificate, in accordance with the SCC regulations, makes good business sense, as it demonstrates to your clients that you comply with safety criteria and that your employees are aware of potential hazards, enabling potential operational disruptions, personal injury, environmental damage and property damage to be identified in good time.

The certificate demonstrates your conscientious approach to occupational health and safety requirements and can help secure contracts both nationally and internationally.

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Target group

The target group for SCC certification comprises companies that operate as contractors in large plants and industrial estates and are required to meet key occupational health and safety requirements. This certification is suitable for manufacturers and service providers operating both nationally and internationally who wish to demonstrate to their clients that they comply with safety, health and environmental protection standards in order to be considered for contracts.

Your benefits from the SCC certification

  • Simplified market entry
  • Enhanced (international) competitiveness
  • Legal certainty and auditability
  • Optimisation of management and work processes
  • Prevention of illness or accidents among your employees
  • Cost reduction
  • Prevention of environmental and property damage; avoidance of disruptions to internal and external operations
  • Raising safety awareness among your staff
  • Training your managers and employees in occupational safety, health and environmental protection
  • Enhanced reputation

SCC certificate in three variants

The SCC certificate is available in three different versions. The appropriate type of certification depends on the size and nature of your business.

The SCC* certificate is aimed at companies with up to 35 employees, provided they do not engage subcontractors for technical services. The questionnaire is less extensive. The HSE assessment takes place during an on-site visit to your company and whilst the contractor is carrying out work (project visit), and includes an evaluation of the level of occupational health and safety.

Requirements for SCC* certification

  • Implementation of the Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) management system for at least three months
  • Successful completion of the 27 mandatory questions on the SCC* checklist
  • Recording of accident frequency in accordance with SCC and compliance with or falling below the specified accident frequency limits
  • Standardised training of staff and management and successful completion of the SGU examination

The certification is aimed at companies that employ subcontractors for technical services, regardless of their size. The health, safety and environmental (HSE) assessment takes place during an on-site visit to your company and whilst the contractor is carrying out their work (project visit), and involves an evaluation of the level of occupational safety and health as well as HSE management system activities.

Prerequisites for your SCC** certification

  • Implementation of the Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) management system for at least three months
  • Successful completion of the 40 mandatory questions and at least five of the nine possible supplementary questions on the SCC** checklist
  • Recording of accident frequency in accordance with SCC and compliance with or falling below the specified accident frequency limits
  • Standardised training of staff and management and successful completion of the SGU examination.

SCCP certification is aimed at companies that employ subcontractors for technical services and need to meet the specific requirements of the petrochemical industry or refineries, regardless of the size of the business.

The HSE assessment takes place during an on-site visit to your company and whilst the contractor is carrying out work (project visit), and includes an evaluation of the level of occupational safety and health as well as HSE management system activities.

Prerequisites for your SCCP certification

  • Implementation of the Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) management system for at least three months
  • Successful completion of the 44 mandatory questions and at least three of the five possible supplementary questions on the SCCP checklist
  • Recording of accident frequency in accordance with SCC and compliance with or falling below the specified accident frequency limits
  • Standardised training of staff and management and successful completion of the SGU examination

Die SCC checklist

The SCC checklist summarises the assessment criteria used during the audit process and contains a defined number of questions. The scope of the questions depends on your service offering and the size of your company, and determines which version of the SCC certificate is appropriate for your organisation. Each question covers the objective, the minimum requirements to be met, the documents to be maintained, and the persons to be interviewed or observed during an on-site audit. The following subject areas are covered:

Chapter 1: HSE: Policy, Organisation and Management
Commitment Chapter 2: HSE Risk Assessment
Chapter 3: HSE Training, Information and Instruction
Chapter 4: HSE Awareness
Chapter 5: HSE Project Plan
Chapter 6: Environmental Protection
Chapter 7: Preparation for Emergency Situations
Chapter 8: HSE Inspections
Chapter 9: Occupational health support
Chapter 10: Procurement and testing of machinery, apparatus, equipment and working materials
Chapter 11: Procurement of services
Chapter 12: Reporting, recording and investigation of accidents, near misses and unsafe situations

The audit process for SCC certification

1

Step 01

Enquiries, quotations & explanations

2

Step 02

Booking & personalised scheduling

3

Step 03

Audit: Understanding the organisation & assessing readiness for certification

4

Step 04

Identifying areas for improvement

5

Step 05

Quick dual-check & certificate generation

6

Step 06

TÜV certificate for external use

7

Step 07

Continuous improvement of the management system and competitiveness

Eine Vogelperspektive zeigt einen dichten Wald, der sich entlang eines Flusses erstreckt, mit grünen Bäumen

Climate change – additions to management system standards

In a joint statement issued in February 2024, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) outlined the amendments to various management system standards. The statement emphasises the importance of addressing climate change within these management systems.

The amendments affect clauses 4.1 and 4.2 of the respective standard. The aim of the amendments is to ensure that organisations take climate change issues into account in relation to the effectiveness of management systems, in addition to all other aspects.

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Frequently asked questions

FAQ on SCC

Depending on the option selected, the applicable SCC checklist contains a defined number of relevant questions. Each individual question is linked to the objectives, the minimum requirements to be met, the documents to be maintained, and the persons to be interviewed or observed during an on-site audit. The questions are divided into the following 12 thematic sections:

Chapter 1: HSE: Policy, organisation and management commitment
Chapter 2: HSE risk assessment
Chapter 3: HSE training, information and instruction
Chapter 4: HSE awareness
Chapter 5: HSE project plan
Chapter 6: Environmental protection
Chapter 7: Preparation for emergency situations
Chapter 8: HSE inspections
Chapter 9: Occupational health care
Chapter 10: Procurement and testing of machinery, apparatus, equipment and working materials
Chapter 11: Procurement of services
Chapter 12: Reporting, recording and investigation of accidents, near misses and unsafe situations.

Reducing the number of accidents is the stated objective of the Safety, Health and Environmental Management System (SHEM) in accordance with SCC. Therefore, maintaining and adhering to a specific accident frequency rate (AFR SCC) is essential for certification.

Our auditors will assess your health, safety and environmental management system for compliance with the requirements of the SCC regulations through a document review and an on-site visit to your organisation and your client’s premises. During this process, staff will be observed whilst carrying out their duties and interviewed.

During the audit process, a representative number of your projects – i.e. on-site activities at your client companies – will be visited. The project visit – whether to a construction site, workplace or production area – should reflect your client activities and enable us to observe and interview your staff whilst they are working.

In order to provide an accurate estimate of the costs of SCC certification for your company, we require information on factors such as the average number of employees and projects, as well as the SCC scheme you have chosen. Please feel free to contact us for a personalised, free quote.

You can obtain your SCC certificate either as a standalone certification or integrate it into existing management systems (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 or ISO 50001). Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

Expert, international, TÜV NORD CERT

TÜV NORD CERT GmbH

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