SafeHire Certification Scheme
Prove your commitment to safety, quality, and professionalism with SafeHire.
Whether you’re a current HAE member or considering joining, SafeHire is your badge of trust—demonstrating to customers, suppliers, and regulators that you meet recognised industry standards. The SafeHire Certification Scheme is a private standard created by and written for the hire industry with the help and guidance of British Standards Institute (BSi) with support from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Why Get SafeHire Certified?
SafeHire is more than a tick-box exercise – it’s a valuable business asset. Here’s how it can benefit you:
Win More Work
SafeHire gives you a competitive edge, helping you stand out in tenders and supply chain opportunities.
Strengthen Reputation
Show your customers you’re serious about safety, quality, and high standards.
Streamline Compliance
SafeHire aligns with industry best practice, regulatory requirements, HSE guidance, simplifying your compliance
Drive Continuous Improvement
The audit process helps you identify opportunities to enhance operations – however large or small your business.
Promote with Confidence
Use the SafeHire logo across your marketing materials to show your credentials.
Who Is It For?
The SafeHire Certification Scheme is open to all HAE members and is a requirement of membership.
Whether you’re a national hire organisation or an independent hire company, SafeHire is proportionate to the nature and scale of your business
See what our current SafeHire accredited members have to say about the scheme!
About the Audit
The SafeHire audit is an independent, third-party assessment of your business processes.
Aligned with ISO and other relevant certification, the scheme assesses how you observe industry best practice and standards pertaining to:
Supportive, Not Scary
Our auditors are here to help you succeed. The process is thorough, but fair – and feedback is constructive.
Process for SafeHire Certification with SSIP Registration
Tailored to Your Business
We understand that no two hire companies are the same. The audit process is scaled according to the size and complexity of your business – with practical, relevant recommendations.
SafeHire Certification Services will provide assistance with Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) approval assessments, to support you in working through the core criteria requirements and subsequent annual assessments to assist you in maintaining your SSIP Registration.
What Happens After Certification?
Once certified, you’ll receive:
How to Get Started
Ready to raise your standards and grow your business?
Start your SafeHire journey today.
Check a HAE Member’s SafeHire Certification
To check a HAE Member’s SafeHire Certification, visit the HAE Find a Member page which enables all interested parties to verify the validity of a member’s SafeHire Certification and whether the member is permitted to use the SafeHire Certification Mark by selecting ‘SafeHire Certified’ from the ‘Choose Class’ drop-down.
SafeHire certified members may also display the SafeHire YOSHKI (electronic) logo on their website, which also provides a means of validating their certification in real time.
See what our current SafeHire accredited members have to say:
“Our Company has been involved with the Safe Hire scheme since it first began in 2003.
Since then, we have seen the scheme develop in both scope and ambition to its current BS Private Standard format.
Safe Hire is now an integral part of our quality control process. It demonstrates our commitment to the maintenance of high standards of health, safety and wellbeing throughout the business for both our staff and customers alike.
The helpful, practical and professional guidance and advice provided to our depot managers during the audit process has always been very well received and assists us with improving standards across the business.”
Mark Wilson, Director of CW Plant Hire
“SafeHire certification has been our backbone, a crucial framework in setting the benchmark for excellence in the hire and rental industry. We work day in and day out, year round every year to ensure we always meet our client’s demands for exceptional standards of health & safety and quality. The rigorous annual audit is an invaluable opportunity to independently and thoroughly assess our existing policies, processes, and procedures and put them to the test to ensure they are robust”
Stuart Slaughter, Managing Director of Plato Catering Hire
“The SafeHire certification process really helped to get us focusing on the right things at the right time to improve the safety of our working environment. We would encourage all to not delay in starting the process themselves because, for us, we have learnt how to better look after our employees, and we are certain the SafeHire certification will give our customers increased confidence when hiring from us.”
Lakeside Hire
SafeHire Frequently Asked Questions
The SafeHire Certification Scheme is designed to promote continual improvement in the Hire and Rental Sector through on-site auditing of hire companies to ensure compliance with industry best practices in health, safety and welfare, quality, and environmental management. Written with the assistance of BSI and with the support of HSE, it enhances credibility, ensures legal compliance, and provides competitive and membership benefits through regular audits and certification renewal.
The certification was launched following a 2010 ‘Which?’ report highlighting problems within the industry. In response, the Hire Association Europe (HAE) took proactive steps to raise standards, improve perception, and demonstrate that the hire sector was committed to professionalism and safety.
Yes. Since 2018, all HAE EHA Members are required to commit to achieving and maintaining SafeHire Certification.
SafeHire Certification gives hire clients confidence that your business meets industry standards, best practice, and legal requirements. Audits identify risks and improvements, helping reduce accidents, enhance safety culture, and boost employee morale. Certification supports compliance, avoids legal or reputational issues, and can deliver cost savings through fewer claims and downtime. It also differentiates members from non-members, strengthens credibility with stakeholders, and provides a benchmark for continual improvement within the hire industry.
SafeHire Certification aligns with multiple international standards, including key elements relating to ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, and the Common Assessment Standard (CAS). Uniquely, it also places strong emphasis on both process and physical product inspection.
HAE EHA provides a range of resources to guide members through the SafeHire Certification process. This includes general guidance, an itemised Quick-Guide, and template documents from HAE EHA Risk Services. These materials help members prepare the right documentation, arrange a site chaperone, and get ready for both initial and renewal audits.
SafeHire audits are conducted by experienced Health and Safety professionals with extensive hire industry knowledge. Assessors are carefully selected, trained, and regularly standardised to ensure consistency. Their role is to support members by evaluating health, safety, and welfare arrangements, advising on compliance, and promoting best practice. Auditors focus on helping businesses improve and foster a strong safety culture. Remember, they are there to guide, not criticise.
The SafeHire audit lasts around 3.5 hours and includes an initial Desktop Audit and an annual Site Assessment. The Desktop Audit, shared in advance, reviews documentation such as health and safety, training, risk management, and compliance. The Site Assessment covers premises, equipment, fleet, and safety practices. Certification lasts three years, with annual surveillance audits and a lighter review at renewal.
The ethos of SafeHire is about commitment to continual improvement.
Members who are not immediately successful receive a corrective action schedule to which they can respond with short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans to address non-conformities and/or opportunities to improve raised by the audit team.
Documentary and/or photographic evidence is required in relation to any major and minor nonconformities raised by the audit team. Whilst we encourage responses to be provided promptly particularly where a major nonconformity has been identified, we do allow a reasonable period of up to 3-months to address minor non-conformities and allow responses to opportunities to improve.
Members will receive automated email reminders from HAE’s system at 2, 4, and 12 weeks after their audit report. The final reminder at 12 weeks gives 30 days’ notice before the audit is closed in its current status, with any outstanding corrective actions marked as passed or failed.