Engaging Contractors to perform works makes sense for a lot of organisations. Whether it be to fill a short-term resourcing gap or to perform specialised works, it remains important to take a WHS governance approach that covers contractors throughout the contractor management lifecycle.

This article is Part 1 of 3 designed to provide some useful information to assist your organisation with its Contractor Safety Management considerations.

What is the Contractor Management Lifecycle?

The contractor management lifecycle consists of a number of stages as outlined in the diagram below:

With our focus on the work, health and safety aspects, let’s take a look at what each stage consists of.

Works Planning Stage

As you would for any scope of work, planning should include WHS considerations such as:

  • What WHS hazards exist that are associated with the work?
  • What is the level of risk associated with the work?
  • Does the work include any defined high-risk construction work activities?
  • Does the work constitute a Construction Project and therefore require a Principal Contractor?
  • Are any special WHS licenses, qualifications, regulatory requirements or notifications required for the work?

Understanding the details of the work, the types of activities and level of risk associated with the work is fundamental in planning an appropriate WHS governance approach.

Contractor Assessment Stage

When it comes to assessing contractors, one of the first things to determine is what are you assessing them against? Yes, they need to be competent to complete the work safely, but how is this determined? And should the same rules of assessment apply to a contractor servicing the photocopier as for a contractor performing demolition work?

The answers lie largely with a risk-based approach that combines with your organisation’s appetite for risk. The higher the level of risk associated with the work, the higher the scrutiny of potential contractors that should occur prior to their engagement. Larger organisations have moved to software-based or independent Contractor Pre-Qualification programs, but as an absolute minimum, contractors seeking to perform work must be able to demonstrate they have the capability and competency to meet the legislative and your organisation’s WHS requirements.

In Part 2 of Contractor Safety Management, we will look at the remaining stages of the Contractor Management Lifecycle: the engagement, the onsite management and the post-work review, as well as the WHS inputs that require consideration and management within each of these stages.

Please contact QRMC for more information.