FEATURE
“JAMES WANTED TO CREATE AN ONLINE MARKETPLACE FOR ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSULTANTS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR BUSINESSES OF ALL SIZES TO SOURCE HELP ON EHS MATTERS.”
“Now there is a much greater understanding of health safety in business than there was five years ago. There is a need for businesses to source help and competent support and that’s only going to increase.”
“JAMES’ VISION WAS TO CREATE AN INTERFACE THAT BUSINESSES COULD EASILY USE TO FIND CONSULTANTS IN THEIR REGION.”
In 2011, the government launched its own Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register, but James explained: “People have been critical of the OSHCR in that it provides a list of consultants but not necessarily any easy means of contacting them. I played with the database and you can get 400 hits if you are in the West Midlands, looking for asbestos specialists – but that’s not particularly
www.tomorrowshs.com
useful for a business that is looking for some immediate help.”
Unlike with the OSHCR, though, consultants are not vetted before they appear on the EHS Rated website. James commented: “With the Consultants Register, people might be approved by professional bodies but in my experience you can have two equally qualified H&S consultants, but one of them you wouldn’t touch with a barge pole because they’re a nightmare to work with – they might have poor customer support, for example. The other consultant might be much easier to work with but the Consultants Register wouldn’t differentiate between the two.”
James emphasised that EHS Rated was not set up to replace the OSHCR but rather to complement it. His vision was to create a marketplace with an interface that businesses could easily use to find consultants in their region. Once they have narrowed down their search on EHS Rated, they can turn to the OSHCR to check whether or not consultants are qualified and registered.
With the technical aspects already verified by the OSHCR, James was
13
keen for his platform to offer customer insight into working with different consultants. He said: “On our website, the feedback section is essentially the vetting process. When you register as a consultant you can invite existing clients to provide you with feedback in the form of a star rating and comments.”
Consultants are not able to edit or remove customer feedback to ensure users receive unbiased recommendations. As more users of the site add comments, the service’s information on listed consultants will become more extensive and, in theory, more reliable. For small businesses that do not have the means to hire in-house health and safety managers, EHS Rated could be a valuable contacts book. At the same time, consultants that register gain access to work opportunities with serious customers.
It’s the EHS Yellow Pages for the digital age.
ehsrated.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54