Ingredients to Effective Contractor Management

If you want to effectively manage workplace compliance, you need to manage your contractors’ compliance. No matter how robust, comprehensive or proven your OHS management systems maybe, if you have a non-compliant, or poorly trained, contractor onsite, it could all amount to nothing if an incident occurs. A reliable contractor management system has to be an essential part of any OHS management plan.

The five essential ingredients of an effective contractor management solution are:

1. A reliable contractor induction system

2. The ability to upload, track and manage compliance related documents

3. Comprehensive reporting capabilities

4. A reliable management plan

5. A dedication to making it all work!

Let's look a bit more closely at these five points:

1. Reliable Induction: While most companies have a contractor induction system in place, it is often out-dated, unreliable. How many companies still throw a handbook at their contractors, or stick them in front of a DVD and get them to sign a form? The fact is, if you track your contractor inductions or your contractors comprehension levels, you're doing very little to improve safe work method statement and nothing to improve compliance. Your first step in contractor management has to be inducting contractors through reliable, induction software with the capability to track inductions, measure comprehension and notify you when an induction needs to be renewed.

2. Capturing Relevant Documents: Insurances, licenses, company details they all need to be captured and checked before contractor even steps onto your site. Once you have them, they need to be managed so that when they expire or become outdated, you are automatically notified. You can then make sure they are renewed before you allow that contractor onsite again. You will also have a record of your activities to help ensure your company's compliance.

3. Comprehensive Reporting: The ability to report up-to-the minute activity associated with your contractor management is at the heart of demonstrating your commitment to safety. It provides you with the information you need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your contractor management system and sets you in the right direction for continual improvements.

4. Management Plan: Simply having a system in place is not enough. You need to have someone to oversee and monitor how well it's working and leading the charge for continual improvements. If you are building a system in-house, this means assigning someone to oversee the software development and maintenance. If you are outsourcing a solution, make sure you find a company that actually understands, and is dedicated to, the everyday issues of OHS managers, not just a software developing company.

5. Dedication: Without an organization-wide dedication to making the system work, your contractor management solution can fall apart very quickly. At every level, you need to build an understanding of why an effective contractor management system is important and what the benefits to the company are. In most organizations, there are many people involved in the implementation of your OHS management systems. It is likely that they haven't placed much importance on your contractor management in the past. You'll need to make an effort to change that.

Once you have your system in place and have established an understanding of the real differences it can make to your company, a fully functioning contractor project management plan template system has the power to improve workplace compliance and, more importantly, contractor safety.

SWMS Works

Employers or on-site managers must be confident that a Safe Work Method Statement is set for all high-risk actions and tasks before employees are allowed to carry out any kind of work. Experts agree and highly recommend that all Work Method Statements be kept on-site so that they can be quickly delivered to the site without any problems or hassles.

WHAT DOES AN SWMS CONTAIN?

Most people do not really know what an SWMS covers. All they know is that it is a document that helps to promote occupational health and safety. However, this document is clearly more than that. A Safe Work Method Statement must:

• Identify the work or activity that is considered "high-risk" or dangerous

• Clearly state the hazards that are related to the high risk task

• State out what kind of effect those hazards can bring about to a person's health and safety

• Describe what measures should be used to control the risks

• Describe how the risk control measures should be carried out, monitored and assessed.

Besides the aforementioned information, a Method Statement or an MS should also include the following:

• The PCBU's (Persons Conducting Business or Undertaking) name, address and ABN (optional)

• Names and details of the persons who are assigned to perform the high risk task.

• Name of the main contractor

• The site or location where the work is carried out

• The date the MS was prepared

Make sure all information that is stated or included in the SWMS is stated in a clear and straightforward manner. It should be easy to understand and accessible by all workers and on-site supervisors. The MS should not only include a list of safe work practices but also enough information on how to implement the risk controls for a particular task or activity.

WHO BENEFITS FROM AN SWMS?

Initially, only those who are involved in the construction industry benefited from having a Safe Work Method Statement. However, over the years, other businesses and industries started creating their own MS as well. This is hardly any surprise since there are certainly risks involved regardless of the industry or business you are in. There are certain health and safety regulations that must be complied in order to guarantee complete protection for the workers at all times. Companies can create their own SWMS; however there are firms and agencies that also specialize in creating customized Method Statements for a specific field or work.

How Is A Safe Work Method Statement Evaluated?

We all know that a Safe Work Method Statements is a written document that is made to ensure workers of safety in the workplace. This document is particularly used in high-risk jobs like in construction. This document typically gives specific instruction about how to safely perform a high-risk task, or to operate a piece of device or equipment. In most countries, it is mandatory to have a work method statement to advice employers and the workers on how to perform their tasks safely.

Employers need to make sure that every single step written in the Safe Work Method Statement is followed and that none of them is missed. If the employers and the workers are following everything that is written on the document, then they are sure that occupational health and safety hazards are prevented. Then again, if they do not follow them, the document will just be useless. To make sure that the document is effective, it needs to be evaluated first. But how is it evaluated?

In evaluating a Safe Work Method Statement, there are certain criteria that are used as a guide in order to ascertain if the document addresses the specific health and safety regulations and requirements for high-risk work activities and other tasks that are to be undertaken by the workers.

There are seven categories in evaluating safe work method statements or SWMS. These include the content, scope of works, competencies and responsibilities, hazardous substances, machinery tools and equipment, and the environment.

CONTENT

The content involves the types of activities, the specific site or designated location, the specific site hazards, the assessed specific risks, the detailed control measures, and the detailed monitoring procedures.

SCOPE OF WORKS

This category involves the start date of the project or activity, the proposed completion date, the scope or type of work that are to be undertaken, and the list of tasks that are to be completed.

COMPETENCIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

In a Safe Work Method Statement, competencies and responsibilities involve the detailed skills and competencies of the workers, the detailed information of the training required for the workers, their prescribed occupation, and the detailed safety responsibilities.

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

This category involves the hazardous substances registered and the MSDS or the material safety data sheets.

MACHINERY, PLANT, TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

This category involves the competency and licensing requirements, the servicing and compliance requirements, and the operation erection, and use procedures.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

In a high-risk work, employers should require the use of PPEs. This category involves checking if the workers use their required PPE.

ENVIRONMENT

This category involves the environmental risks, the identified control measures, and the monitoring procedures.

These categories are checked one by one if these are met. It is very important that none of these categories and subcategories is missed when evaluating SWMS. This is to make sure that the Safe Work Method Statement and also this OHS Management Plan is effective. Since the document provides workers the safe work methods and a safety management system, employers must see to it that they follow every single detail written in the document to ensure the workers of a safe working environment.

Effective and Efficient OHS Management

I believe that most folks are well-intentioned when it comes to the health and safety of themselves and others. I've never actually met anyone in any company during my over three decades of OHS management plan experience who actually wanted to hurt anyone. I think the problem is that some percentage of employers, managers and workers just don't know what activities they are to engage in to really make their workplace safe.

Knowing what to do and how to do those things that make a safe work method statements situation is a fundamental requirement of efficient and effective OHS problem-solving. Good problem-solving requires us to be both efficient and effective. A problem solved inefficiently only causes other problems. A problem solved ineffectively isn't really solved at all. There are only four possible combinations of being effective and efficient. You either are or you aren't. No matter what state you find yourself in, there are practical things to do to improve not only your results, but the processes you use to achieve those results. Let's examine the four states of OHS management and see what we can do to celebrate or correct our approaches so that we'll become efficient and effective at creating safety.

Effectively efficient: Doing the right things right

This is akin to driving a well-maintained boat with a super crew on board with a well-defined plan to get to the other side of the lake. We'll not only accomplish our goals, but we'll do it in record time with few problems, if any, to resolve along the way. The plan is solid, we have the right people in place, and we just need to execute the plan. Then, of course, we need to celebrate our accomplishment.

In managing OH&S issues, this means that your own evidence tells you that you are managing safety in a way that results in the creation of safety. You can see the evidence of safety when you look. Workers are working without taking unnecessary risks. You can observe workers following work procedures that they helped develop and are wearing proper protective clothing and equipment. The safety rules make sense to the people who need to follow them and the safety culture is observable. It feels good to be safe. Safety isn't a "program." It's the way that your company does its work.

Effectively inefficient: Doing the right things poorly

This is like owning a boat in very poor running condition, having one broken paddle as an emergency backup, with a great navigation plan to make it across the lake: "We'll get there... someday." We'll breakdown along the way, we may hurt some crew members because we don't have the proper tools to repair the boat, we may even get to the wrong point on the lake before we finally reach our correct destination. There could be some time wasted just drifting aimlessly. Team members will be unhappy and a tad frustrated. Success of getting to where you are going will be less than satisfying because of the negative experience.

In OHS management plan, we are often doing the right things to make it safe; we just aren't very efficient at them. We have safety meetings for example, but the participants think they are a waste of time since we're having very poorly developed meeting strategies. There are good things happening at the meetings; they just aren't happening quickly enough.

Ineffectively efficient: Doing the wrong things very well

In this state we're really good at what we are doing, we're just doing the wrong things. We have a great boat in great condition travelling in circles. We're randomly reaching unplanned destinations that we never really intended to go to. If we reach the goal, it will just be because of luck.

Unfortunately, companies stuck in traditional approaches to safety are in this state; they are very efficient at orientations, for example, but the process isn't getting the correct results. All their staff have watched the orientation DVD; they just haven't retained any of the information.

Another common example is passing the same audit annually for several years. Let's face it: you aren't learning much by asking yourself the same questions you asked yourself a decade ago, even if the audit is done in record time.

Ineffectively inefficient: Doing the wrong things poorly

This is akin to driving a motor boat with a poorly performing motor and no rudder on a lake. You will slowly and with a great deal of noise go around in circles...and never really get anywhere. If you do get to the other side of the lake, it could be the wrong destination altogether. If you happen to get to where you wanted to be, you'd have to admit to yourself that it was mostly luck that got you there.

This state of your OH&S effort usually presents some, if not all, of the following observable symptoms:

• No safety processes defined;

• Working on the typical myths of OHS management;

• We offer to fire people for safety violations, but don't tell them they are doing a good job when they do;

• We efficiently hold safety "telling" meetings where there is no interaction; and

• We have rules of safe behaviour but never actually check to see if they are being followed.

There are certainly other areas of concern with ineffectively inefficient management. The key is to find out from others the successful ways to get you out of this state. Remember that every company is in some state of your OHS management development and delivery evolution. Components of what you are doing to create safety may very well be in a variety of states of both efficient and effective.

The Project Management Plan Template

The project management planning phase is just what it sounds like - making a plan. This might include the level of detail the planning will be, whether it is a high level project or a low level project. It will also include the possible use planning software to lay out the project in detail. The scope statement will also be a part of this. The scope statement is the goal of the project; what your company is trying to achieve. This statement should include the customers, employees, and the goal. This should be a scope everyone believes in and it should be motivational.

Selecting a planning team might be the most difficult task of the entire planning and design phase for project management. Selecting a team means, you need to find the right people who are competent with the skills and knowledge to perform the work. However, these people also need to be capable of working with others. They should have a team concept and personalities that match other team members. When matching employees to work together, personalities must be considered or big problems can occur socially. Identification of deliverables and activities is also included in design and planning. Project management plan template must identify the different milestones and deliverables throughout the stages of the project. The work structure should be broken down. Deliverables should be set at different stages. This sets goals for employees and allows for the team to have a good idea how they are progressing throughout the project. Any activities needed to complete the deliverables should also be identified.

Planning requires estimates to be put in place for budgeting purposes. The budget needs to be as exact as possible. Some projects are difficult to estimate exactly. Project management plan template will need to consider all resources which include requirements for activities, labor, materials, and time. If a client wants a big job completed quickly, it might require you to hire more employees or for your current staff to work a lot of overtime. This must be broken down in the budgeting. Development includes developing the schedule and the budget. Each department involved will have a budget toward the project. The project manager will manage the budget. The schedule should include the dates from the beginning of the project until the end. Risk planning means you are aware of things that could potentially go wrong and ready in case they do. Risk planning is smart and must be done during the planning phase. Once you have completed these tasks in the development and design phase of project management, you will be ready to gain approval and begin the project.