A retained health & safety advisory service for UK employers without a qualified H&S professional in-house. Four published tiers from £495 a year — Silver and above formally name KeyOstas as your appointed Competent Person under Regulation 7.
A retained health and safety advisor is an external H&S professional you appoint on an ongoing basis — rather than hiring a full-time safety manager or calling a consultant only when something goes wrong. For most small and mid-sized UK employers it is the practical, cost-effective way to have senior H&S expertise permanently on hand.
The legal driver is Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which requires every UK employer to appoint at least one competent person to help them meet their health and safety duties. That person can be internal or external. The KeyOstas Advisory Service is built precisely to be that appointed competent person for businesses that do not have one in-house.
A retainer gives you a named Chartered consultant, a defined response time, scheduled compliance reviews, policy and risk-assessment upkeep, and somewhere to turn before you make a decision — all for a fixed, published annual fee with no surprise add-ons.
Regulation 7 of MHSWR 1999 requires every UK employer to appoint at least one competent person. KeyOstas' Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers include formal Competent Person nomination — KeyOstas is named as your appointed competent person, with a Certificate of Competent Advice you can show to insurers, clients and enforcers.
Every tier gives you senior, Chartered H&S support on a fixed annual fee. Higher tiers add Competent Person nomination, more site time and faster response.
One CMIOSH consultant who knows your business — not a rotating call-centre queue.
Silver tier and above formally appoint KeyOstas as your Regulation 7 competent person, with a certificate to prove it.
Phone and email access to senior H&S advice whenever you need a decision checked — included in your fee.
A structured yearly check of your H&S arrangements against current law, with a written action plan.
We keep your written policy and risk assessments accurate and in date as your business changes.
Access to maintained H&S templates and plain-English alerts when the law that affects you changes.
Four reasons UK businesses stay on the KeyOstas Advisory Service year after year.
Five CMIOSH-grade consultants — Chartered Members of IOSH, the highest grade IOSH awards. Most one-person UK consultancies hold no Chartered grade at all.
Our lead consultant is listed on the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register — the cross-body register endorsed by HSE, IOSH and IEMA. Verify us directly on OSHCR.
No junior account managers, no offshored advice lines. The Chartered consultant who scopes your engagement on the free call is the consultant who delivers it.
Advice that closes findings, not just lists them. Documents your team will actually use. The benchmark is whether this made your business safer.
From first call to delivery, the Chartered consultant you meet is the consultant who does the work — no handoffs, no junior advisors.
We map your size, sector, risks and current arrangements, and recommend the tier that genuinely fits — no upselling.
Written confirmation of your tier, your named advisor and the fixed annual fee — in your inbox within one working day.
Competent Person paperwork is issued and your first compliance baseline review is booked. Your advisor is then on call.
Pick the tier that fits your size and risk. No long-term lock-ins, no surprise renewal fees — Silver and above include formal Competent Person nomination.
Bronze is senior advice on call. Silver, Gold and Platinom add Competent Person nomination, increasing site time and faster guaranteed response.
Audits, policy rewrites, fire risk assessments and incident investigations can be added to any tier, quoted to scope — retainer clients get priority scheduling.
The questions UK buyers ask us most about this service. Tap any to expand.
Hiring an external advisor is not itself compulsory, but Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 does legally require every UK employer to appoint one or more competent persons to help meet their H&S duties. If nobody in-house has the right qualifications and experience for your risks, a retained advisory service is the standard way to meet that duty.
A competent person is someone with enough training, experience and knowledge to help an employer comply with health and safety law. Under Regulation 7 of MHSWR 1999 every UK employer must appoint at least one. They can be internal or external — KeyOstas' Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers formally appoint KeyOstas as your external competent person.
Yes. The law explicitly allows the competent person to be external. For most small and mid-sized employers an external retained advisor is more cost-effective and brings broader experience than appointing someone internally who may not hold the right qualifications.
A KeyOstas retainer includes a named Chartered advisor, an unlimited phone and email advice line, an annual compliance review with a written action plan, policy and risk-assessment upkeep, and a maintained document and legislation library. Silver and above add formal Competent Person nomination and increasing on-site time.
KeyOstas publishes four tiers: Bronze £495, Silver £970, Gold £1,600 and Platinum £2,995 per year. The right tier depends on your size, sector and risk profile — we recommend one on the free scoping call. There are no long-term lock-ins and no surprise renewal fees.
It is written confirmation that you have appointed a qualified competent person under Regulation 7. Silver, Gold and Platinum clients receive one naming KeyOstas as their appointed competent person — useful evidence for insurers, tender pre-qualification questionnaires and clients who ask how you manage health and safety.
Services and courses UK employers most often combine with this one.
Free 20-minute scoping call. We recommend the tier that genuinely fits and confirm it in writing within 24 hours. No obligation, no pressure.
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