Look to As Health and Safety Consultants we are often called in to help when companies find themselves in difficult positions. Either as a client with their contractor, or, as a contractor with their client.
From a company perspective
We see it all ! Companies who in their haste to open up sites due to financial pressures from management rush through the launch. Allowing staff and public on sites when they really shouldn’t. Which includes without contractor snagging being finalized. Who then have positioned themselves to have to allow their contractors to dictate to them their own individual health and safety terms, procedures and standards. Leaving them with a mismanaged mess that we need to help them pick apart and take back to basics. Creating standardized processes to put them back in the driving seat so that they may maintain their HSE compliance.
From a contractor perspective
We also see the other side. Whereby companies are so pleased to have won contracts that they sign up without insisting on a detailed scope of work. Not noticing the complete lack of mention in the terms or tender of any health and safety expectations that will be placed upon them. Hoping that this means that there are no conditions. And only finding out at a pre start meeting that they are totally unprepared and their staff unqualified. Thus necessitating an urgent call to Corporate OHS asking for help to develop health and safety documentation and procedures. Or, to supply suitably experienced HSE staff . All services which had been completely unaccounted for in the budgeting of the project.
HSE compliance
If a client’s issue is one of concerns over HSE compliance. The effective health and safety management of contractors can often be a key component in creating easy to manage ongoing health and safety conformance. Again, an issue that we often see is that the client has not understood contractor management correctly and is therefore taking on much extra workload, responsibility and risk that simply does not belong to them. They are creating documentation and allocating staff to tasks that should be pushed back on to the contractor.
In a nutshell, failure to define and understand HSE roles and responsibilities and set up robust procedures right at the start of your relationship with a contractor or client ie. at tender stage. Is guaranteed to make your life difficult thereafter.
Prior to the commencement of Work
- As we all (should) know, the successful management of contractors starts well before the hiring of the contractor. There needs to be clarity in the overall expectation of the contractor as well as communication of the required standards needed to demonstrate competence and safety. This should be included in the tender scope and not just the contract. Therefore, it is essential that the client companies HSE Department work with procurement to ensure this inclusion
- The company’s procurement process must ensure that the contractor provides at tender stage documentary evidence of their health and safety procedures. Including; risk assessments, safe work method statements, emergency procedures, evidence of staff HSE training and qualifications. The resulting technical review should involve the HSE Department and form part of the overall contractor evaluation and decision as to whether the work is won or not
- Include robust contract clauses in terms of HSE obligations that the contractor understands and agrees to before they sign the contract. This could include details such as the mandatory inclusion of additional HSE supervision for high risk work or compulsory external third party investigation in the event of a lost time incident
- Make the contractor well aware of the safety standards and HSE documentation that you will require them to work to. Share your companies HSE arrangements, permit systems and policy
- Look to develop a standard reporting monthly template that ensures all documentary evidence necessary to satisfy compliance as per your stakeholders
- You should also ensure that regulatory bodies criteria is captured and satisfied. Ensure all your contractors use your standard documentation and submit as per your requirements
Once Work has Commenced
- Ensure all contractors attend a pre-start orientation. This will aid in eliminating any incorrect assumptions that could arise. As well as assessing the level of site HSE induction required before the commencement of work
- Plan regular progress meetings to discuss and raise health and safety issues throughout the project life. Be sure to include workforce consultations and representatives in the meetings
- The level of safety monitoring required during the project depends on the risks present. Contractors should be carrying out daily health and safety checks. Clients should carry out periodic checks on the contractors safety performance. Where requirements are not being met, if you are the client then take immediate appropriate action hand in hand with the contractor
- Both the client and contractor should review the work after completion to see if safety performance could be improved in future. Additionally see what learnings can be used to improve subsequent decisions and projects
Corporate OHS is a UAE based Health and Safety Consultancy. Our HSE Consultants offer expert resources and superior performance to give you greater results.
We specialize in creating cost effective, user friendly solutions aligned to your business activities, operations and budget.
Our range of health and safety consultancy services includes;
- Risk assessments
- Hazard identification and control measure implementation
- Gap Analysis and audits
- HSE management system development, implementation and improvement including locally compliant systems such as Abu Dhabi OSHAD and/or accredited systems such as ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and ISO 50001
- HSE legal compliance reviews and assistance
- Accident investigations
- Business continuity and crisis management
- Long term or project based HSE outsourcing
- Flexible monthly support retainers giving access to HSE services without the burden of a permanent cost
To find out more about our services, please visit our website www.corporateohs.com or send an email to enquiries@corporateohs.com
