At CGA Technology we understand that relationships are vital for moving forward and they are key in excelling any company to the next level. One single channel of communication allows data transparency and immediate access to information. Contractors bring a varying degree of occupational health and safety knowledge, training and experience, making it difficult for organizations to manage workplace safety.

To mitigate the risks associated with disparate, and potentially inadequate safety training of contractors who work on their behalf, it is necessary to put a robust system in place that can carry out this responsibility.

A strong contractor safety software, one that monitors and manages ongoing safety performance can ensure that contractors are adequately equipped to mitigate hazards. This can help to prevent worker injuries, protect corporate reputation, support compliance with government regulations, and avoid hefty fines associated with violations.

Here are the five best practices for mastering contractor safety management with a clear strategy that extends throughout your entire supply chain. Leveraging them can help to build a more comprehensive, effective programme to better protect the people on jobs sites and excel your business.

1. Ensure that safety and expectations are communicated through induction training.

Safety training is a critical tool that companies have for sharing their safety culture throughout their workforce, including their contracted workers. What better way to ensure your workforce’s safety readiness than to train them before they set foot on a job site?

Onboarding or induction training communicates safety expectations and trains workers to safely perform job duties before they come to work. Typically, instructor-led, the detailed training can efficiently and effectively prepare contractors to safely operate machinery and understand how to mitigate the unique safety hazards of their jobs.

It often includes the company’s safety and emergency procedures, work permits, and site requirements. Requiring contractors to complete induction training provides assurance that they are prepared with the most effective, relevant training for the jobs they are hired to do. Use of badging or other technology-based tools to enable easy verification of training completed before a contractor goes to work is key to ensuring compliance.

2. Build safety requirements into contracts. 

Contracts help to clearly establish your organization’s expectations regarding its contractors’ safety preparedness and performance. Legal contract language should require their compliance with federal, state and local regulatory requirements, along with company-specific health and safety requirements. This may include participation in the company’s safety prequalification program administered through a third-party provider and maintenance of an acceptable safety score in their contractor management system.

3. Establish and track contractor safety KPIs. 

Key performance indicators (KPIs)—such as the total number of safety-related incidents and lost time rates—are just some of the newer indicative tools for advancing contractor safety.

EHS leaders rely heavily on safety metrics to create awareness of safety adherence and motivate workers to improve their performance. Many companies leverage a third-party software provider to host a digital dashboard that features the company’s key safety-related KPIs for its contractors.

Clearly visible analysis of KPIs that represent safety adherence and progress can help decrease serious incident rates by holding department directors accountable for organizational procedures. Regularly scheduled meetings to discuss performance metrics, including any incidents that occurred along with their root causes and corrective actions, can help teams strategize for continuous improvement.

4. Leverage audits and incorporates safety performance into post-project evaluations. 

Periodic on-site inspections, jobsite walk-throughs and annual audits are effective ways to monitor contractor safety performance. These can be conducted by internal resources or some organizations leverage an outside vendor to perform these audits, supplementing their internal resources to give them more eyes in the field.

Organizations with advanced contractor safety programs go beyond contractor prequalification and monitoring by integrating safety performance into post-project evaluations and close-out conversations. For example, an EHS team included in the NAEM study conducts a post-project evaluation upon the completion of all contracted work. The company relies on the same general contractors for various projects, so they can regularly evaluate their performance and collaborate with them on subcontractor management to monitor and continually improve safety adherence.

The results of contractor safety audits and post-project evaluations can also be shared with supply chain, providing that part of the organization with additional metrics to monitor contractor performance, manage the relationship, and make decisions regarding inclusion in future bid invitations.

5. Leverage technology and third-party vendor support. 

Gathering, verifying and auditing contractors’ health and safety metrics and safety programs are not quick or easy tasks. According to EHS Today’s 2019 National Safety Survey, leveraging technology for assistance is one of the most prominent industry trends. Technology, such as contractor management software solutions, modernizes contractor safety management for more efficient, effective results.

NAEM survey respondents with advanced programs rely on third-party providers with technology solutions that are backed by safety expertise to bring added capacity. A provider with expertise in contractor safety management can help standardize the prequalification process across the organization and provide clear visibility into whether a contractor company meets its safety expectations when assessing potential hires. This type of solution also frees up internal resources by handling time-consuming collection and review of safety program information from contractors and, at the individual worker-level, can provide a clear picture of contract workers’ training and readiness to work and to help flag workers in need of additional training.

All told, then, adopting proven best practices to build or enhance your contractor safety management program can help ensure your contractors share your commitment to safety, improving safety performance and strengthening your workforce.

Subcontractor Management with Flex.

How does it work?

Subcontractors are set up on the platform with all their safety details and their employees. Tasks can be assigned to each individual then they will receive notifications and keep their traceability of the execution.

Permissions?

Flex is a permission restricted platform. User groups allow different access to execute tasks and oversee processes. In that way, misunderstandings can be avoided as everyone has a single side to display their responsibilities.

Benefits?

• Safety details records for each company, documents, history, toolbox, training and orientations.
• Subcontractor Employee details and their own ability to log in.
• KPI performance tracking per subcontractor.
• Inductions are executed in half of the time as everything is done through the platform.
• PDF certificates are generated from the platform and sent to relevant parties.
• Notifications and alerts are sent to keep the team updated.

If I am using the subcontractor module already what should improve?

• Subcontractor observations and set up some statistics to measure subcontractor’s performance. It’s common to exclude observations but in the end it is necessary to know which subcontractor delivers the goods. Incentive attached to performance makes a stronger workforce.
• Incorporate training modules with subcontractor management and store all their training records on the system, ensuring compliance.
• Grant subcontractor access on a limited view so that they can be put in charge of their own safety and compliance details, saving you time.
• If relevant allow them access to complete audits, corrective actions, inspections and maintenances all on your system to maintain end to end compliance.
• And much more…..Contact us at: sales@cgatechnology.com to find out more.

Detillier, C. (n.d.). Best Practices to Accelerate Contractor Safety. [online] www.ehstoday.com. Available at: https://www.ehstoday.com/construction/article/21122587/5-best-practices-to-accelerate-contractor-safety [Accessed 10 Feb. 2020].