The report was far more detailed than we expected for the price – clear, practical and easy to act on. Genuinely good value for a business our size.
Sarah Watts
Director
Appointed health and safety competent person under Regulation 7 – annual site visit, a clear report and 12 months of support. From £950 + VAT.
COMPETENT PERSON SERVICE
Practical health and safety support without the cost of employing a full-time health and safety manager. Our Competent Person Service includes one annual site visit, a clear easy-to-read report, and 12 months of remote support to help you understand your duties, prioritise actions and manage health and safety with confidence. From £950 + VAT.
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What’s included
One straightforward annual package. Every item below is included – there are no modules to add on and nothing you’ll be upsold later.
01
We visit your site and discuss the key health and safety topics relevant to your operations such as machinery, workplace transport, manual handling, noise, contractor control, hazardous substances, fire and more.
02
We benchmark your arrangements against the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the regulations made under it, and the Fire Safety Order 2005.
03
We review your health and safety documents and advise on the critical records to retain.
04
A practical inspection of your premises, carried out to a standard similar to what the enforcing authority may expect to see.
05
A health and safety audit based on HSG65 – the HSE’s Plan, Do, Check, Act approach to managing health and safety.
06
We explain plainly where you stand, then set it out as conformances, non-conformances and opportunities for improvement.
07
Written confirmation of TIPS Consultancy Ltd as your appointed competent person under Regulation 7 MHSWR 1999.
08
Telephone, email and Microsoft Teams support for the full 12 months.
09
A health and safety policy prepared for your business – a legal requirement if you employ five or more people.
10
A practical health and safety handbook your employees can use, with clear guidance on key rules, responsibilities and safe working expectations.
11
A clear health and safety management system that brings your key procedures, responsibilities and arrangements together in one structured document.
12
Your consultant’s CV on request, where stakeholders require evidence of competence – tenders, SSIP, insurance and customers.
Confirmed up front based on the size and nature of your site. No hidden extras, no long-term tie-ins.
What you need to know
Our Competent Person Service gives manufacturing and industrial SMEs practical, ongoing health and safety support without the cost of employing a full-time health and safety manager. It’s a straightforward way to appoint a competent external adviser, understand where your arrangements stand, and keep that support in place across the year. Here’s what to expect before you appoint us.
You deal directly with a named health and safety consultant who gets to know your business, your site and the way you operate – not a different voice, and different advice, each time you call. It’s one of the most common frustrations we hear from businesses before they move to us: guidance that shifts every time the consultant changes. With a single point of contact who already knows your operation, the advice stays consistent year on year and builds on what’s gone before. The service also includes a Certificate of Appointment confirming TIPS Consultancy Ltd as your appointed competent person under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
We carry out a health and safety site visit, audit and inspection so you can see where your current arrangements stand. This includes a walkaround of the workplace, a discussion of the key operational risks in your manufacturing or industrial setting, and a review of your main health and safety documents and records.
The visit includes a baseline review against your key legal duties – the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the relevant regulations made under it, and, where appropriate, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 – alongside a health and safety audit based on the HSE’s HSG65 ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ approach. The aim is simple: show you what’s working, what needs attention, and what to prioritise first.
After the visit you receive a clear health and safety report that sorts every finding into three outcomes: conformance, non-conformance and opportunity for improvement. You can see at a glance what you’re already doing well, where you fall short of a legal requirement, and which sensible, proportionate improvements would strengthen your arrangements.
This isn’t a one-off report. You also get 12 months of retained health and safety support by telephone, email or Microsoft Teams – so you can ask questions, sense-check decisions and get competent advice as things come up through the year, before they turn into problems.
This outsourced health and safety support works best for directors and managers who want clear direction, proportionate advice and a fixed-fee model. It’s ideal if you have someone internally who can read the report, keep records up to date and implement actions, with a competent external adviser to lean on.
Many businesses only bring in external health and safety support after an enforcing authority, insurer or customer has raised a concern – by which point the pressure is already on. A proactive site inspection and audit gives you a clear picture of your arrangements first, so you can understand what’s working, what needs attention and what to prioritise, and make informed decisions rather than reacting after the event. For many SMEs, this is the minimum level of assurance needed to know where the business genuinely stands.
This is a traditional, practical health and safety advisory service – not a software package, a training upsell or a scare-tactic audit. We set out clearly what needs doing; you decide how best to put it in place. Understanding what health and safety actually requires helps you avoid spending on things you don’t need, keep costs under control, and focus on the improvements that matter. Our role is to point directors, managers and those running day-to-day operations in the right direction, so health and safety becomes part of how the business is run – supporting better decisions and a stronger competitive position.
TIPS Consultancy Ltd was founded by Kapil, who has always had a strong interest in business and how SMEs operate. With a background in manufacturing and in directing SMEs, alongside his work as a health and safety consultant with many SME directors, he understands first-hand how rising costs – higher employment costs, raw materials and overheads – combined with limited time and unclear advice can make health and safety feel like one more burden rather than something manageable.
That’s why this service is built to be practical, proportionate and genuinely cost-effective: a clear, fixed-fee way for manufacturing and industrial SMEs to understand what they actually need to do, avoid spending on extras they don’t, keep costs under control, and keep their people safe. It also means the advice is grounded in how a business like yours really runs – so getting health and safety right supports the wider business rather than working against it, giving you a stronger position when you appoint TIPS.
In simple terms: you get one named adviser, one clear annual review, a practical report, and 12 months of support when questions come up.
Your Report
After your site visit, everything in the report is organised under three clear headings – so you can see at a glance what’s working, what to improve, and what needs putting right.
Green
What you’re already doing well
Areas where your arrangements already meet the standard – confirmation of what’s working, and useful evidence for insurers, customers and tenders.
Proof that what you’re doing is working.
Red
Where you fall short of the standard
Where your arrangements don’t yet meet a legal requirement.
Each one is explained in plain English, with clear, practical advice on how to put it right.
Sorted first, with a clear plan to put it right.
Amber
Sensible, proportionate next steps
Things that aren’t wrong, but could be stronger. Practical suggestions to tighten up your arrangements, prioritised so you know what’s worth doing first.
Small changes that add up to a stronger business.
Appointing TIPS as your competent person is a clear, structured process - from your first enquiry through to 12 months of ongoing health and safety support. Here’s how each stage works.
Confirming the service is the right fit for your business - with no obligation.
Send us an enquiry
Tell us about your business, your site and the health and safety support you need.
Free suitability visit
We arrange a free, no-obligation visit to understand your operations, risks and current health and safety arrangements. It’s a suitability and understanding visit - not a sales appointment - so both sides can confirm the service is appropriate and that we have the right experience to advise you properly.
Quote issued
If the service is suitable, we send a clear, fixed-fee quote based on your business, your site and the level of competent person support required.
Terms of Service signed
You receive and sign our Terms of Service, so the scope, responsibilities and 12-month support period are clear before we begin.
Begins on your agreed review visit date and runs for a full 12 months.
Review visit date agreed
We agree the date for your health and safety audit, inspection and review. This is the date your 12-month competent person support period starts.
Review carried out
We review your workplace, documents and current health and safety arrangements - including a site walkaround, a baseline legal gap analysis and an HSG65-based audit.
Report issued
You receive a clear, practical health and safety report covering conformances, non-conformances and opportunities for improvement.
Support begins
Your 12-month competent person support continues by phone and email, with TIPS as your appointed external health and safety adviser. The invoice is sent after the report has been issued.
Continue for another year if the support is useful - with no long-term tie-ins.
Annual review and renewal
Before your 12-month support period ends, we get in touch to ask whether you’d like to continue your competent person support for the following year. There’s no obligation and no long-term tie-in - you simply renew if you’ve found the service useful. Many manufacturing and industrial SMEs choose an annual health and safety review to maintain standards, review progress and keep their arrangements up to date as the business changes. For many SMEs, at least one health and safety visit and audit each year is a sensible, good-practice baseline and a practical way to stay on top of things.
FAQs
A competent person is someone with the training, skills, knowledge and experience to help an employer meet their health and safety duties. Under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, every employer must appoint at least one. The competent person can be an employee or an external adviser – appointing an external health and safety consultant like TIPS is a recognised way to meet the duty when that expertise isn’t available in-house. Appointing a competent person doesn’t transfer your legal responsibilities, which always remain with the employer.
Yes. Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires every employer to appoint one or more competent persons to help them meet their health and safety duties. That competence can come from within the business, from outside it, or a combination. Where the knowledge isn’t available in-house, appointing an external health and safety advisor is a sensible and widely used way to meet the duty.
Yes – the HSE says so, and we agree. Many SMEs are perfectly capable of managing health and safety day to day. The difficulty is knowing what applies to you, what records to keep and what “good” looks like. We benchmark what you need to do, point you in the right direction and explain how. You stay in control; we provide the competent advice.
A discussion of the key topics relevant to your operations, a baseline legal gap analysis against the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the relevant regulations and the Fire Safety Order 2005, a document review with advice on critical records, and a site walkaround inspection to a standard similar to what the enforcing authority may expect. We explain where you stand before we leave, then confirm it in the report.
Yes – and it often works best that way. Many clients have an office manager, operations manager or director who looks after health and safety alongside their main job. We give them competent advice to lean on, a clear report to work from and a consultant to ring when unsure. The service supports your internal person; it doesn’t replace them.
No, and we’re upfront about that. If your size, risk profile or client demands genuinely require full-time professional support, we’ll tell you. For most manufacturing and industrial SMEs, a full-time appointment isn’t necessary – a competent external advisor, an annual visit and year-round access to advice covers what the law expects, at a fraction of the cost.
You and your team work through the actions at your own pace, in priority order. Our remote support runs for the full 12 months, so you can phone, email or Teams-call us about the findings – or anything else that comes up – as often as you need. Appointing us doesn’t transfer your legal duties, which always remain with the employer, but it does mean you’re never working them out alone.
Yes. The documentation provided – policy, handbook, management system documentation and the Certificate of Appointment – is what assessors, insurers and customers typically ask to see. Where stakeholders want evidence of competence, your consultant’s CV is available on request.
The baseline legal gap analysis includes your duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and general fire safety management is covered within the visit and the report. You can also be confident the fire safety advice is credible: our consultants hold the Level 4 Diploma in Fire Risk Assessment awarded by ABBE and are members of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM). A full fire risk assessment is a separate, more detailed exercise – if your premises need one, we’ll say so clearly in the report and can discuss it with you.
From £950 + VAT for the 12-month Competent Person Service. The exact price depends on the size and nature of your site, and we confirm it before you commit – no hidden extras, and no long-term tie-ins beyond the 12 months.
Yes. TIPS Consultancy is based at 249 Scraptoft Lane, Leicester (LE5 2HT) and supports manufacturing and industrial SMEs across Leicester and the wider Midlands, as well as UK-wide. Annual competent person visits are carried out on site, with 12 months of remote support by phone, email and Microsoft Teams wherever you’re based. Call 0116 456 7521 or email info@tipsconsultancy.co.uk to check availability in your area.
The next step
Arrange a free initial visit so we can understand your operations, confirm the service is suitable, and give you a clear quote before you commit – practical 12-month competent person support, not a pushy sales call.