The Westhill based firm achieved approved operator status in the SAFEcontractor scheme in recognition for its health and safety procedures and safe operating practices. Xtreme, which employs 40 staff and also has UK bases in Dunfermline, Glasgow and Portsmouth, hopes the accreditation will provide new opportunities to further develop its client base, particularly in the oil & gas and energy sectors. In the past 12 months Xtreme has completed £400,000 worth of projects in these sectors and is optimistic about building on this in the coming year.
SAFEcontractor is used by over 160 of the UK’s leading businesses, including Sainsbury’s, Virgin Atlantic and HSBC, to select contractors to carry out services such as construction, maintenance, refurbishment and electrical installation.
Graeme Duncan, Xtreme’s managing director, said: “This accreditation acknowledges Xtreme’s commitment to strict health and safety standards. It also reflects the quality of work which our team deliver when they install equipment. Every organisation has a legal obligation to ensure that contractors visiting its premises operate in a safe way, and as such, we expect more and more companies to utilise the SAFEcontractor scheme to gain peace of mind about the competency of contractors.
“Some of the country’s biggest companies use the scheme to select contractors to work with, and we anticipate that our accreditation will give us the opportunity to tender for contracts we might not otherwise have had.”
Only contractors whose health and safety practices meet a high standard following a rigorous assessment are included in the scheme. In a bid to increase health and safety standards in industry, companies that sign up as users of the scheme agree to engage only with contractors which have received accreditation.
John Kinge, head of risk at SAFEcontractor, said: “Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies.
“More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Xtreme Business Solutions has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.”