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As an employer (or self-employed person) you may need to have vetting controls in place to assess contractor competencies for health, safety and environmental management. You may need to show how effective your control system for the management of contractors is if something goes wrong.
It’s important to demonstrate that you have carried out sufficient contractor control activities. You’re not expected to know everything about every trade-person’s job, but you are expected to demonstrate that the contractor has been vetted and show that you have a robust system in place to ensure that suitable and sufficient risk assessments are in place and being followed.
We can offer a range of vetting controls which will help employers demonstrate that they comply with legal requirements and contractors are sufficiently insured to prevent direct liability. We can build bespoke contractor management systems to enable employers to suitably vet, approve and safely manage contracted services. These can include quantifiable vetting questionnaires, approved contractor databases, contractors' safety policies, and electronic permit to work systems. We have, for example, tailored such systems to be facilities management or construction specific.
If you are interested in discussing any element of this service and associated costs, please contact us
Employers need to have vetting controls in place to assess contractors’ competencies for health, safety and environmental management. As an employer, you may need to show how effective your control system for the management of contractors is if something goes wrong.
• Employers need to be confident that contractors have suitable and sufficient insurance cover for the work they will carry out.
• Employers also need to ensure that contractors have suitable and sufficient risk assessments and a method statement for their activities.
• Additionally, employers should check up on the contractors’ accident statistics and whether they have received any formal notices from enforcing authorities.
The importance of controlling contractors mainly relates to physical work such as building work, maintenance work and working at height. Even window-cleaning work is included. It is particularly relevant to fire safety systems. There had been numerous cases of fires starting on sites because hot work carried out by contractors has not been sufficiently observed or safely controlled.
There are a huge range of questions employers could reasonably ask a contractor before they start on site. Absolute Health and Safety Solutions Ltd advise employers to find out what these questions are, and to not be afraid to ask them
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