Using contractors may be very routine for your company, but this doesn’t mean that accidents and health and safety incidents cannot occur.
Whether you are hiring a contractor for roof works, electric works, or external maintenance, they are likely to be strangers to your building, therefore, won’t necessarily know about the hazards, emergency procedures, rules and safety procedures individual to that property. Even if you do know and trust your contractors and use them for various sites that you manage or own, the safety information for your building can change and new hazards can pop up each year. And, in accordance with HSE Guidance (HSG159) you still need to have a policy and procedure in place for contractor management. In this article we discuss the importance of contractor communication, contractor vetting and what the law says…
Communication is Key
As previously mentioned, one of the main causes for accidents involving contractor’s is poor communication between them and those who employed them (i.e., Property Managers or Landlords). Communication is key; not only will you need to brief contractors of your site processes, you will need to find out what they are doing to ensure safety, and you will need to communicate with residents to keep them updated.
In some cases, you may have more than one contractor working at a building, in which case, you will need to think about how their work may affect one another. Moreover, if the building was built pre-2000, then you will need to consider the safety implications relating to Asbestos. Contractors should be given access to the buildings’ Asbestos Surveys and Register and it is vital that they are asking to see this before any works commence.
Why is Contractor Vetting so Important?
We’ve established that communication between yourself and your contractors is highly important. However, before you can even begin this you need to ensure that the contractors that you instruct to carry out works at your building are suitable, sufficient and have safe working practices.
Some of the things you should be considering when employing contractors are:
- Do they subcontract, and do they have a program in place that effectively assesses the competency of their sub-contractors?
- Have they had suitable and sufficient health and safety training?
- Do they regularly maintain and inspect their equipment?
- Do they have any required health and safety certifications, such as ISO accreditations?
- Do they have the right insurances in place for the work they are doing and is it up-to-date?
To assist you with this, there are various different contractor vetting services out there; including Safe4site which is our own.
So, what does the law say?
You may be wondering why you need to worry about all this. Which is why, if you manage contractors you need to be made aware of the requirements of the following:
- Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 – which applies to all work activities and “requires employers to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of: their employees, other people at work at their site, including contractors and members of public who may be affected by their work”
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM Regs) – You will need to consider whether the work is routine maintenance or construction work in which case the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) will apply. Basically, where the activity involves construction processes, requires construction skills and uses construction materials, it is most likely to fall within the term construction work and CDM will apply.
Finally, it is important to note that this works both ways and contractors also need to comply with the relevant health and safety legislation and ensure that their working practices are safe. Furthermore, you should refer to the HSE Guidance (HSG159) which outlines your requirements and why contractor management is so important.
For further advice and guidance please contact 4site Consulting.
4site Consulting are the building safety people, providing independent residential and commercial property risk assessments and surveys for owners and managers of property.
Tel: 01376 572 936 or Email: [email protected]
