Contractors

You need to control who enters your premises, for example by asking contractors to sign in on their arrival. You need to ensure that contractors are aware of:

• site safety rules
• any hazards and risks
• emergency procedures
• first aid facilities
• alarm procedures
• a site contact

You should ensure that all contractors (and visitors) are familiar with your site rules. Using a formal induction process is the best way to ensure all contractors receive the necessary safety information.

You may require a permit to work for certain tasks. These include working with electricity, hot work and confined spaces and so on. In this case, you will need to make the contractor aware of the process. For more information about a work permit, you can visit our page.

Monitor the contractors' performance

• they are doing a good job as planned
• following procedures as specified on their risk assessments and/or method statement

The amount of monitoring will depend on the level of risk. Higher risk will require closer monitoring. It’s important to ensure that the contractor stays in touch with you and reports any incidents, accidents or near-misses to you to be recorded accordingly.

Review the work

• that the job was completed as planned
• if there were any incidents
• whether they followed safety rules and procedures

It’s important that you feedback to the contractor and you encourage them to do the same about your organisation. After this, you need to decide if the contractor will stay in your approved list of contractors.

You also need to check if your procedures worked. For example, if you planned the work well or if the selection process was effective. You should learn from the experience and review your procedures to amend them accordingly.

More information on managing contractors (external site) can be found on the Health and Safety Executive website.