Two of the founding members of a safety umbrella body have dropped out, less than two months after it formed

Safety Schemes In Procurement (SSIP) was set up in April to create a common standard for health and safety prequalification. It was intended to integrate schemes from the Construction Clients Group, Constructionline and the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group as well as groups such as Achilles and Connaught Compliance Services.

But Achilles and Connaught have since said they will not commit to the scheme before seeing how it operates in practice.

A source familiar with the situation said the two were concerned that their commercial interests would be harmed by “going down the neutral route”. He said: “They realised there was going to be mutual recognition of the schemes, and that theirs would be challenged by this.”

Connaught said: “We have concerns that the way the scheme is positioned could mislead businesses into thinking there is now a single common standard across the board.”

John Murphy, the chairman of SSIP, said the forum was “very disappointed” by the news.

Achilles was unavailable for comment.

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