In recent decades, contractors have played an increasingly significant role in many businesses. They help fill workforce gaps and offer flexibility, but mostly it’s still up to the company to keep them safe. If contractors lack a thorough understanding of the site, the operations and safety procedures, they risk placing themselves, other workers and the company’s reputation in danger. Therefore, an effective contractor safety management program is crucial.
In a world where the risks to business are ever-evolving – ranging from a potential global recession to climate change – no company can afford for contractor safety to be the weak link in the chain. Especially not when solutions are so readily available.
For those working in Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), this is even more imperative, as contractors are on the front line of risk mitigation. Businesses cannot afford long periods of interruption. It is crucial they adapt, responding quickly and seamlessly to accommodate any change.
An integrated, centrally managed contractor safety system with digitized workflows allows more control, giving greater insight into the activities of contractors with the opportunity to mitigate risks at every point. This helps site managers with the following struggles:
Siloed data: Decisions made in isolation can mean information is not readily or easily shared.
Partial view: Without the end-to-end perspective, EHS managers cannot get a complete and comprehensive view of contractor companies, their workers and the risks they pose.
Different safety practices: Working at different sites under different companies, contractors may not know the right procedures to follow.
Keeping track: Losing oversight over who is onsite and undertaking which tasks can endanger employees and contractors.
Monitoring performance: It can be challenging to effectively monitor the contractors that pose greater risk and identify areas for improvement.
Added paperwork: Using paper-based or multiple systems can make any review a slow and cumbersome process.
As organizations look to streamline their contractor management processes, it is important they ask the following questions:
How do we continue operations and keep contractors safe?
How can we accurately assess contractor organizations?
What documentation do we need to create, and which records do we need to retain?
How do we effectively engage and monitor the workforce to make sure new procedures are followed?
Today’s technological solutions offer a host of advantages when it comes to managing the safety of a workforce. Mobile, interactive programs that can be updated at any time and place make it easy to have a thorough grasp of the nuanced risk of any workplace.
Integrated workflow software packages offer a holistic view of contractor safety risks. This allows an EHS manager to identify and mitigate potential risks to the contractor and the wider business, and offers a whole range of related benefits including:
A central register of contractors: A place to store details of past, present and future hires, along with pre-qualification assessments, relevant documents and a way to set up automated alerts and reminders of key review dates.
Trackable competency and training: Making it easier to assign competencies, track training needs and generate a complete training needs analysis including automated alerts for expiring qualifications.
Engaged contractors: With a central portal to access safety information, and digitized mobile tools for self-assessment, contractors can stay easily engaged while on-site.
Permit to Work process: The ability to review risks and hazards, send a job safety card, gain visibility over who is on-site and generate pre and post checklists for safe completion of work.
Streamlined data collection: A central portal collecting contractor safety information including any reported incidents and hazards, allowing for a more accurate assessment of performance.
Improved performance: Track corrective and preventative actions, capture and share lessons learned with contractors.
Enhanced integration: Seamless integration with other software means that data can be analyzed centrally, giving managers a more comprehensive picture of contractor risk.
It might seem that using contractors adds complexity but doesn’t have to be case. Their needs and competencies can be easily assessed and managed by the same digital solutions, seamlessly integrating them into the rest of the workforce.
Understanding the risks is just the first step. To truly protect workers and reduce costs, businesses must take proactive measures to align their safety investments with the most pressing hazards in their industry. Where a business’s resilience relies on its ability to adapt, those that embrace digital solutions will always be steps ahead.
Interested in learning more on how you can better support your contractors? Check out our other contractor management resources:
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