Do I need a Contractor Management System at my School or College?

Why do I need a Contractor Management system at my School or College?

Contractor management is a must as Contractors have always been considered as workers, this requirement is explicitly stated in the WHS Legislation in Australia. They are to be afforded the same level of protection as the employees working in the school or college. The contractor’s business has the same duty to look after the safety of their worker even though they are at your workplace performing work. A safety consultant can assist with compliance to WHS legislation relating to contractor management by providing guidance on the development of policies and procedures that ensure contractors are managed in accordance with the relevant legislation.

This can make the process a very challenging process for organisations to get their head around and manage effectively. Your obligations under Health and Safety legislation are not absolved because you have engaged the services of a contractor or implement a contract to make the contractor ultimately responsible. It is critically important that contractors have a clear understanding of what is required of them before they enter your workplace and commence work. One issue is to ensure that they have their own robust safety policy and safety procedures in place.

Do I need an induction process as part of my Contractor Management system at the School or College?

A complete safety induction of the Contractor prior to entering the workplace should be completed. there are several specific aspects that must be checked, one being the Blue Card (where required). Then a second induction should be completed when the contractors attend the workplace but before the work commences. This second induction must focus on the actual work and the hazards associated with that work so that they do not impact students’ safety. The safety consultant can also provide guidance on the implementation of safety systems and processes to ensure that contractors are aware of their obligations and are working safely.

The intricacy of the contractor management process must be dependent on how a contractor is engaged, the type (risk level) of work, where and under what circumstances the work is being completed.

Why engage a safety consultant to look at contractor management at my School or College?

Our safety consultants are experienced working with schools and colleges and universities developing systems for contractor management. Our Safety Consultants have worked with the education environment many years and understand the intricacies when developing these systems.

If your school or college has an established process in place to manage contractors, we offer services to complete a gap analysis of your system. This will assist in ensuring the current contractor management system are current and provide sufficient protections in the event of a contractor management issue.

What should be included in a School or College Contractor Management system?

Our safety consultant can assist with services that include:
• Reviews your contractor safety management system, where they exist, and
• Provide a report on the recommendations to improve the system.
• Development of a suitable system where one does not exist.
• Mentoring your staff and training program to manage contractor safety.

Internal audits (self-audits) are usually just inspections where workers often just “tick the box” from a list of general questions. During these audits it is often stated that “We don’t have contractors.” A few questions later and the clients agree that there are times when persons external to the core business operations come to the workplace to work and interact with workers and the equipment in place. Often without any specific system to complete simple checks like is the vehicle being driven on site insured, let alone the qualifications and certifications of the person completing the work as a contractor.

What are the outcomes of a Contractor Management systems review?

Not having clear, documented contract management processes in place is an unacceptable standard for any education environment. At the completion of the consultation, the safety consultant will provide you with a clear and actionable risk assessment report. This report will include a range of recommendations to consider as part of the elimination or reduction of the risks associated with contractor management.

Organisations should have a Safety Management System to assist in ensuring risks such as these to not eventuate or are kept low. We have more information on the Safety Management System we support (Safety Direct^tm) and the various function it can perform for you.

Consider training key staff in this course to assist them in gaining a better understanding of the legislation framework and the various sources of information to assist the PCBU in managing contractors and providing a safe workplace.

Following are some posts with added information for this topic that may assist in you deciding on using a Safety Consultant to assist your business,

• What is a Safety Consultant?
• How can a Safety Consultant assist with Health and Safety regulatory compliance?
• Importance of Professional Certification for Safety Consultants.
• Safety Consultants assisting with reducing workplace injuries.
• The importance of getting Qualified Safety Advice.
• What qualifications and certifications should I look for in a Safety Consultant?
• What skill set must you look for before engaging a Safety Consultant?
• Developing Safe Systems of Work and how a Safety Consultant can help?

If you are interested in our WHS Consultancy services, you can contact David, Andrew or Mark to discuss your Health and Safety Issues.

We have qualified and certified Safety Consultants that can assist you and offer a range of WHS consulting services along with general and specific health and safety training courses.

Contact us today for an obligation free quote on any of our services.