Rating Companies for HSQ Standards

The HealthSafety Qualified Rating Process

Only the Best Pass the Test®. This is our promise to you. To qualify, a company must pass each of these four rating steps: Learn and Test, Acquire Inventory, Train Team, and Validate Performance. Once qualified, they commit to follow HealthSafety Qualified Standards every day and participate in performance audits and customer challenges.

Our Promise to You

The HealthSafety Qualified symbol is a promise that a company received our training, passed our tests and validated their inventory of personal protective equipment and safety supplies. It is a promise that the certified company has committed to follow HealthSafety Qualified Standards.

What We Cannot Promise

The HealthSafety Qualified symbol is not a promise of a company’s future performance of safety procedures or your actual satisfaction with that company’s performance in any way. We endeavor to perform the rating process accurately and without bias according to the description supplied by our organization. Furthermore, we believe that the methodology used to ascertain this rating and award HealthSafety Qualified is a fair representation of the qualifying company’s efforts regarding health safety at the time they passed the HealthSafety Qualified test. Since we rely on multiple sources of information and each company’s performance can change over time, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided herewith. The content and materials provided are provided “As Is” and without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. Memberships, awards and affiliations are not independently verified. Under no circumstances, including but not limited to negligence, shall we be liable to you or any other entity for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages. The HealthSafety Qualified symbol does not mean that a certified company will meet every individual’s subjective markers for safety or satisfaction. We do not back our certification with a performance guarantee, thus you must make any claim directly to the company.

When Workers Visit Your Home

Your health and safety come first. Why take chances on untrained or uncertified companies? Protect your health at home by choosing HealthSafety Qualified companies. We require service companies that visit your home to follow different standards than companies you visit. The tables below list the required personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety supplies they must bring with them and the procedures their workers must follow.

Prior to Visiting Your Home

Prior to entering your home, each worker must undergo a temperature and symptom check, perform a deep hand wash, wear PPE, disinfect tools and items to be brought inside, and attend a brief safety reminder meeting.

PPE and Supplies
Required Before Shift

HSQ Procedures Required
Before Shift

  • Thermometer

  • Hand Wash Kit

  • Hand Sanitizer

  • Disinfectant for tools

  • Temperature and symptoms check

  • Restock PPE in vehicle

  • Workers deep hand wash

  • Workers put on PPE

  • Clean and disinfect items to be brought inside

  • Assign Onsite Safety Officer (OSO)

  • OSO conducts HSQ procedures meeting

Workers at Your Home

When inside your home, workers are required to wear face masks and gloves. Stopping face touching is one of the keys to reduce transmitting infections. Hair ties, hair nets or hats must be worn by each worker whose hair is long enough to get in their face. Facial tissues must be supplied for vehicles and brought inside your home. Tissues should be used by workers as a shield between their hand and face to prevent direct face touching. A room fan must be brought into a customer’s home and used to increase air flow by opening windows and improving ventilation. Disinfecting wipes containing at least 70% alcohol must be used to wipe down any touched surface in a customer’s home.

When outside your home, workers do not have to wear gloves, but they must wear face masks when working within 6 feet of other workers.

PPE and Supplies
Required Before Shift

HSQ Procedures Required
Before Shift

Inside a Customer’s Home

  • ✔ Face Masks

  • ✔ Gloves

  • ✔ Room Fan

  • ✔ Disinfecting Wipes

  • ✔ Facial Tissues

  • ✔ Hair Ties (as needed)

  • ✔ Guest PPE

  • ✔ Company Customer and Worker Protection Rules

  • ✔ Googles (if the customer 65+ or has a medical condition)

  • ✔ Physically distance from customers and workers when possible

  • ✔ Offer guest PPE

  • ✔ No direct face touching

  • ✔ Wipe down all touched surfaces with disinfectant

  • ✔ Maximize ventilation

  • ✔ Resolve any HSQ procedure violations

  • ✔ Double wipe surfaces (if the customer is 65+ or has a medical condition)

Outside a Customer’s Home

  • ✔ Thermometer

  • ✔ Hand wash kit

  • ✔ Hand sanitizer

  • ✔ Disinfectant for tools 

  • ✔ Take breaks outside when practical

  • ✔ Work outside when practical

  • ✔ Wash and/or sanitize hands during breaks and prior to leaving

  • ✔ Prior to leaving, apply disinfectant to areas touched inside and outside vehicles

  • ✔ Workers wear masks in vehicles when riding together

When You Visit a Company

Your health and safety come first. Why take chances on untrained or uncertified companies?
Protect your health. Make sure the company you visit is HealthSafety Qualified. The tables below list the required personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety supplies they must use and the procedures their workers must follow.

Protective Procedures Prior to Work Shift

Prior to starting their workday, workers must undergo a temperature and symptom check, perform a deep hand wash, wear PPE, disinfect tools and product samples, and apply disinfectant to high-use surfaces. Each worker must also attend a brief safety reminder meeting.

PPE and Supplies
Required During Shift

HSQ Procedures Required
During Shift

Inside a Customer’s Home

  • ✔ Face Masks

  • ✔ Gloves

  • ✔ Room Fan

  • ✔ Disinfecting Wipes

  • ✔ Facial Tissues

  • ✔ Hair Ties (as needed)

  • ✔ Guest PPE

  • ✔ Deep Hand Wash Setup

  • ✔ Hand Sanitizer

  • ✔ No-touch Trash Can

  • ✔ Marked Floor at 6' Intervals for Lines

  • ✔ "People Capacity" Signs

  • ✔ Company Customer and Worker Protection Rules

  • ✔ Limit entry to 5 people per 500 square feet

  • ✔ Physically distance from customers and workers when possible

  • ✔ Offer guest PPE

  • ✔ No direct face touching

  • ✔ Wipe down all touched surfaces with disinfectant

  • ✔ Maximize ventilation

  • ✔ Workers must deep hand wash after breaks

  • ✔ No food set out for sharing

  • ✔ Resolve any HSQ procedure violations

  • ✔ Double wipe surfaces (if the customer is 65+ or has a medical condition)

Outside a Customer’s Home

  • ✔ "People Capacity" Signs

  • ✔ HSQ Sign showing requirements before entering

  • ✔ HSQ Shield Sign

  • ✔ Take breaks outside when practical

  • ✔ Work outside when practical

  • ✔ Wash and/or sanitize hands during breaks and prior to leaving

Protecting You and Your Family

HealthSafety QualifiedTM (HSQ) is a certification that ensures local companies follow best practices for health safety equipment and procedures whenever they interact with consumers. Created in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, HSQ is designed to hold companies accountable for using personal protective equipment (PPE), supplies, and procedures that have been developed to protect customers and workers. Each company must pass a series of qualifying steps to earn HSQ and continually prove its compliance in order to maintain the certification.

Greg Louie is CEO of American Ratings Corporation. Photo: American Ratings Corporation ©2020

“We’re proud of the rigorous standards we’ve created for the HealthSafety Qualified certification because it helps protect consumers and workers. We wanted to help our community when the COVID-19 crisis hit all of us. We realized that we couldn’t make ventilators or masks in high volume, but we had spent the last 18 years certifying local companies and were really good at it. So, we created this certification to help our community stay safe by identifying companies that are following best practices in health safety procedures.”

How HSQ works

To qualify for HSQ, a company must first apply to be rated and commit to HSQ Standards, which are detailed below. Once the company learns the HSQ Standards, it must pass the HSQ Requirements Test, which is designed to showcase in-depth knowledge of health safety practices as detailed by the CDC and other organizations. If the applicant company passes this test (90%+ on 50 questions), it must provide photographic proof that it possesses all the required PPE and supplies per HSQ standards..

David Pak is Director of Ratings at American Ratings Corporation. Photo: American Ratings Corporation ©2020

“We understand that people are more careful than ever when it comes to working with companies during this high-risk time, so we take our HSQ Standards very seriously. Every company that earns HSQ is committed to achieving our high standards for health safety.”

What are HSQ Standards?

HSQ Standards vary depending on the workplace situation, but they’re all designed to prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone involved. For example, if a company conducts business by visiting a customer’s home (plumber, roofer, painter), every worker must wear protective gear, take their temperature prior to entering the residence, perform a deep hand wash before touching any surfaces, maintain a physical distance of 6 feet at all times, disinfect all surfaces before leaving and more. Conversely, if a company conducts business by welcoming customers to its location (auto repair, dentistry, flooring showroom), it must have room fans to increase ventilation, no-touch trash cans, “people capacity limit” signs posted in frequently used rooms, marked floor lines in reception areas, a deep hand wash setup in each bathroom and more.

Workers must disinfect every surface that they touched throughout the workday. All disinfecting wipes must contain at least 70% alcohol. Photo: American Ratings Corporation ©2020

“In addition to these standards, we require every company to have an Onsite Safety Officer present to ensure compliance with HSQ Standards and local ordinances,” adds David Pak. “This type of accountability is the key to ensuring jobsite and workplace safety for consumers and businesses alike.”

HSQ Audits

In addition to passing the HSQ certification steps and maintaining the necessary PPE and supplies, each company must agree to participate in periodic audits to ensure they’re in compliance with HSQ Standards. These included (but are not limited to) customer surveys and surprise inspections. If a company fails to pass these audits, it loses its HSQ status.

Companies must maintain the necessary PPE and supplies in order to keep their HSQ certification. Photo: American Ratings Corporation ©2020

Our Promise to You

We are dedicated to helping you find local companies that care about providing quality work, Helpful Expertise® and safe working environments. We’re proud to give you the information you need to choose with confidence.