What is the best way to manage contractor safety?

Contracting and subcontracting have long been a part of the construction and logistics industries. Because contractors account for 10% of Australia's employment, contractor safety is now more critical than ever. Managing contractor safety, on the other hand, can be challenging. The challenge is that contractors have variable expertise, training, and experience in occupational health and safety. How can you defend yourself to ensure your safety records don't lapse?

This article will look at four ways to manage contractor safety around critical hazards.

1. Initial Orientation

COVID-19 regulations have resulted in a significant increase in the use of online safety induction training. What was once known as "death by PowerPoint" or instructor-led training is increasingly shifting to online delivery because of its social distancing, consistent material, low cost, time savings, and portability?

The contractor safety induction aims to ensure that they are aware of the work environment they would be entering. They must be aware of your expectations from the start. The goal is to cover all of the material as briefly and entirely as possible while also making the training an entertaining safety induction that your contractors will remember and apply.

Here is a summary of the essential topics that your contractor safety introduction should address.

• Make your contractors aware of the hazards and risks in your workplace.

• Connect to your company's health and safety policies and procedures, and get them to sign off that they've read and comprehended them.

• Stress the importance of safe work practices in their work and their obligation to keep themselves and others safe on your job sites.

• Emphasize your contractors' role in preventing mishaps and accidents.

• Outline the procedures for reporting incidents, injuries, and near misses.

• Instruct employees about your workplace's emergency and evacuation protocols, including emergency exits, evacuation instructions, assembly points, and the use of fire alarms and firefighting equipment.

• Provide information about first aid and other emergency contacts to your contractors.

• Inform your contractors of the many forms of PPE they will require to do their work. Before contractors arrive on your project sites, they receive onboarding or induction training, which conveys safety requirements and prepares them to perform job activities properly.

2. Contracts and Expectations

Your organization's expectations should outline in contracts with contractors. Participation in the company's safety prequalification program, which a third-party source may conduct, is one example. You could also demand that your contractors maintain a satisfactory safety score in their contractor management systems.

3. Track Contractor Safety KPIs 

Most businesses employ metrics to track contractor safety by evaluating their key performance indicators (KPIs). However, lost-time injury rates, for example, are a lag indicator of safety performance, and accidents can control to ensure that no lost-time injuries are recorded. Another key disadvantage of solely using trailing safety indicators is that they only tell you how many people were injured and how badly they were hurt, not how well your contractor prevents incidents and accidents.

Leading KPIs incorporate training records, audits, and sensor data and recognise that risk is caused by more than just humans. These methods are proactive, regularly reporting on staff safety performance and continual development. Leading indicators should include the following:

• Allow you to see tiny changes in the safety of your contractors.

• Assess the positive: what people are doing vs what they are not doing.

• Allow your contractors to receive frequent feedback.

• Predict future hazards or safety concerns.

• Increase constructive problem-solving in the area of safety.

• Make it crystal clear what needs to be done to remedy the situation.

A visual examination of KPIs that show adherence to your safety regulations will help reduce significant event rates by holding your contractors accountable. Schedule meetings with your contractors regularly to discuss performance indicators. To encourage continual improvement, explain any incidents and their root causes and corrective actions.

4. Safety Performance Audits and Post-Project

Contractor safety performance can monitor effectively through on-site inspections, job site walk-throughs, and annual audits. Internal resources can undertake these audits, although some companies use an outside vendor to enhance their internal capabilities.

A safety audit aims to assess if employees and contractors comply with Workplace Health and Safety training obligations. Safety audits can also assist you in:

• Identify workplace risks, their severity, and whether or not the highest levels of controls are in place.

• Identify the benefits and drawbacks of safety processes and procedures.

• Show where and how to make the suggested changes.

• Ensure you have enough resources to manage workplace health and safety and employ them properly and effectively.

• Examine whether your safety methods and procedures are lawful.

Remove or effectively control dangers and eliminate harmful activities.

These metrics help you monitor your contractor's performance and your relationship with them and inform your decisions regarding inclusion in future bid invitations.