‘New products and names Safety Culture Ladder’

The Safety Culture Ladder (Veiligheidsladder) introduces “new” products and product names. These products where initially only available within the “TenneT pilot’ and within the Dutch Governance Code Safety in Construction, but will now be made generally available. Parties can choose, next to full certification, for a different SCL product from the 1^st of March 2020 onwards.

Background
Initially there was only one SCL product available: the SCL certification, in which every year a full (100%) audit is required. On request by TenneT a pilot was started in 2016 to work with deviated products. These SCL deviations were only acknowledged by TenneT and used for their own contractors. The Dutch Governance Code Safety in Construction also decided to use these products.

The Committee of Experts (CvD) has recently decided to take the products out of the pilot context and make them generally available for the market.

The products
The SCL certification scheme remains the same, in other words: nothing changes in regard to substantive requirements. There will be a difference in audit forms.

1. With a SCL Original, a 100% audit is performed every year.
2. With a SCL, only in the first year a 100% audit is performed and in year 2 and 3 a follow-up audit is performed of 40%.
3. With a SCL Light a 40% audit is required in the first year. In year 2 and 3 a check on the action plan is performed.
4. The Approved Self Assessment is a self assessment, carried out by the organisation itself. The certification authority only checks if it is carried out in a correct manner and performs a check on action plan in year 2 and 3.

Both the SCL Original and the SCL provide a certificate if the audit is concluded successfully. The achieved step is stated on the certificate.

The SCL Light does not provide a certificate, but a statement on which a ‘step indication’ is stated.

The Approved Self Assessment does not provide a certificate, nor a statement and therefore not a step indication. The certification authority only provides a document of proof stating that the self assessment has been performed according to the required process.

More information about the product names and the audit requirements can be found in the CvD decision.

The products are available per 1^st of March 2020. In the coming months all relevant documentation will be adapted to the new products.

The alteration also requires new templates for certificates and statements. These will be adjusted as soon as possible and will be available, ultimately on the 1^st of April, for certification authorities.

Adjustments in the online register
The register of certificate holders on the website will be amended. The new product names will be added. The certificates and statements (current SAQ+ register) will be combined into one register. As soon as this is completed, it will be visible on the website. Certification authorities and project partners will be informed separately about the changes.

The Approved Self Assessment
For one of the new products, the Approved Self Assessment, a new SAQ webtool will be launched. This will soon be available online. This compacted SAQ must be used for the Approved Self Assessment. For more information, see the CvD decision.