Contractors play a significant role in your business. Their safety must be a priority – any incidents or near-misses in your workplace can put you at risk.
Meeting compliance and verification requirements can be complex. Our checklist can help to clarify what needs to be done and the risk if a step is missed.
Select every box that applies. Each tick could be a sign your contractors – and your business – are at risk.
1. Your supplier lists have changed significantly, but you haven’t completed a compliance verification process. Each time you add a new supplier, you should be verifying they comply with your processes and safety measures. If you have made changes, now is the time to audit them and properly assess their compliance. 2. The type or amount of work you’re outsourcing to contractors has changed. Checking contractors against one project doesn’t guarantee their suitability for every project. If the nature of the work has changed, you must reassess before proceeding. 3. Your supplier lists are not reviewed regularly. Even if you’re on top of your own contractor assessment, their businesses may also go through changes. Regular reviews of your supplier list help to ensure no changes go unnoticed and potentially compromise your business. 4. Contractor licences, restrictions, certifications, authorisations or insurance credentials are expiring or no longer meet your requirements. Credentials must be kept up to date to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your contractors and limit your own liability. 5. You don’t know if contractor credentials are expiring or need to be reviewed. Not knowing what needs to be reviewed puts you at enormous risk. Before you can ensure credentials are current and acceptable, you must ensure you have visibility of each part of the contractor relationship. 6. Health and safety incidents or near-misses are increasing in frequency and/or severity. An increase in OH&S incidents is a sign your processes and contractor verification need reassessment to avoid further injury. 7. You’ve expanded across multiple locations without reviewing compliance processes. Different sites have different requirements, hazards and more contractors. If work has already begun, you should review your compliance processes as a matter of urgency. 8. A growing number of contractors means it’s taking longer to verify their credentials, or verification is being skipped. No business can afford to risk skipped verifications. Automating your processes can help to onboard contractors more quickly, even if their credentials are more complex. 9. Contractors are being hired without clear and specific rules. Your safety rules should be clearly documented, and each incoming contractor must be required to complete and orientation and acknowledgement process. 10. You don’t have robust processes to pre-qualify contractors and communicate safety and compliance requirements. The safety and wellbeing of your contractors – and the risk to your business – depends on consistent processes and clear communication. Automating and centralising them improve efficiency and overall compliance.
Download the contractor management checklist here.