Are You Ignoring an Insurance Minefield – Part 2?

Welcome to part 2 of this newsletter where we will look further into both the obvious and hidden risks of working with contractors.

I have been working with many types of contractors over the last 40 years mostly excellent, some bad. This newsletter is not about quality of workmanship rather it is about knowing who your contractors are and controlling their access to your site / organisation. Just think about the cost in legal claims and insurance as well as damage to reputation if an unidentified / uninsured / unskilled / untrained contractor is given access and has a serious accident or worse dies while working within your organisation.?

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Part 2 of this newsletter covers Documentation, Skills, Qualifications & Certifications

Part 3 will cover PPE & Risk Management.???(Coming Soon)

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As this newsletter has readers from many countries, I recognise that laws and regulations may be different where you live. In Part 1 we established the need to positively identify who you allow enter your site. But no matter how well you know the person, there are still many reasons to deny them access. Let’s continue…?

Documentation

The most important document a contractor must possess is a current?insurance policy.?Nobody should ever be allowed access without this. When it comes to this document and others it is NOT enough for the contractor to say they are insured etc., they must produce the documents and you need to keep a copy of them. There is always the possibility that you may need to also show these documents sometime in the future.

Over the years, I have been asked many times why I do not allow contractors to upload their documentation into FacilityManager. I have 3 reasons;

1.?????The client might be complacent, and they may not check the validity of the uploaded documents. (i.e. Last years document uploaded or not replaced).

2. The details especially insurance documents need to be checked. The insured values for public liability, professional indemnity, employers liability, etc., must be checked against your company’s requirements.

3. The Expiry dates need to entered correctly so the client is alerted well before the document(s) expire.

Other important documents that a contractor should provide are;

·???????Tax Clearance Certificate

·???????Safe Pass (Ireland)

·???????Bank Information

·???????Company Registration Details

·???????Contractor Handbook / Health & Safety Policy

·???????Compliance with statutory filing requirements

Skills and Qualifications

These are divided into 3 areas.

1. Those needed to perform works on specific plant and equipment

Plant such as gas boilers, lifts etc., can only be maintained by contractors with specific skills and qualifications. The approved contractor should produce the current documents or certificates for each individual within their company who will work on such plant within your organisation. Again, without these, the contractor should NOT be given access to the specified plant or equipment.

This also applies to any trades people directly employed by your organisation, they should ONLY we allowed to work on plant and equipment for which they are qualified. All documentation and certificates for your own staff must equally be valid and current.

Also, the contractor should clearly identify any member of the team sent to you site who is an apprentice and if they are allowed to perform tasks on the above plant & equipment, confirm that he/she is ALWAYS under the full supervision of a fully qualified person.

2. Those needed to operate specific equipment

The number of people who attend hospital Accident & Emergency Departments or worse due to not possessing the skills to operate certain equipment or work in hazardous environments is staggering.?For many the accidents are life changing or worse.

There are so many risks that are present to the unskilled when either working on plant and equipment or using power tools.?It only takes a second for an accident to occur.?As the client, it is impossible for you to supervise either your own staff or contractors every time they are performing any potentially dangerous task so this is why you must know that they are fully (documented) trained for the task.

For your own staff there should be a full induction policy and training in using either tools or which plant they can or cannot maintain and the guidelines should be totally black or white with NO exceptions.?

Contractors must equally be made aware that you will not accept any deviation from your company’s policies and procedures in relation to maintaining plant and equipment.

Qualifications and certificates may be required (depending on your location) for operating plant such as MEWP’s, Erecting Scaffolding, Lifting Equipment, Abrasive Wheels, Manual Handling, Using a Safety Harness, etc.

3. Those needed to work in a hazardous environment

Some plant and equipment may reside in a hazardous area such as a confined space. Again, either your staff or contractors must possess the correct training and certificates to work in such areas.?

One of the biggest issues I have seen over the years relating to hazardous environments is that either the risk is not obvious or appears to be acceptable to the unskilled / unqualified. Or worse, they proceed, rather than refuse the work due to monetary concerns, bravado or many other reasons often with dire consequences.?

For example, a lone contractor took on a job (refused by a main contractor) maintaining steam boilers in an area covered in asbestos fibers. I heard he died a few years later of lung cancer.??In another case, a facility manager decided to fix a leaking pump which involved crawling through a 20m underground duct to reach. He did this on a Saturday, alone and told no one. He narrowly escaped drowning when the duct flooded.?

Trained and qualified staff are aware of these hazards and know how to mitigate them. This is why it is so essential to ensure you know your staff / contractors training and qualifications are sufficient for them to perform the work safely.

Qualifications and certificates may be required (depending on your location) for working in confined spaces, working at height,?Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, Legionella and Legionnaires' Disease Awareness, Ladder Safety, PPE training, etc.?

?We live in a world where litigation has become the norm.

Why would you risk the consequences?

Equipment Calibration / Certifications

It is not only people that must be certified but certain equipment and tools as well. If a contractor is using an uncalibrated piece of equipment during maintenance, then they are wasting both their own and your time as well as possibly incurring damage to your plant and putting other people at risk.?

?PAT test instruments are calibrated annually. For electricians’ calibration is required for multimeters, clamp meters etc. For boiler maintenance, gas analyzers need to be calibrated. It is the same for many other trades and also certain PPE such as safety harnesses need to be checked and certified.

As an organisation you need to have a control structure in place to manage both staff and contractors working on your plant and equipment. The last thing you need is an accident, downtime, insurance claims or litigation because you failed to perform the appropriate identity and documentation checks.

If you identify any of the above within your organisation and require further information, just click on the Calendly link in the Featured Section to book a discovery call.

The following shows a screenshot from the contractor management module within FacilityManager? where identification, documentation etc., are easily maintained.

CompassASSIST?is a bespoke coaching / implementation programme that ensures the best possible financial and administrative results from your investment in either your own CMMS software or our own?FacilityManager??CMMS. We will develop the plan parameters and assist in the tasks that your facilities team and all other ‘parties’ should take to achieve this objective.???

Here are some of its components.

• Project Goals & Objectives:?The project goal is you achieve the maximum ROI from your CMMS investment, while the objectives are the key milestones or achievements that must be completed to reach it.
• Success Criteria:?This is an agreement between CompassAFM and you the Client to define the?project success criteria (Scope, Schedule, Delivery, Satisfaction & Quality).
• Risk Analysis:?Use a risk assessment tool like a?SWOT analysis?to visually compare the risks v benefits of either remaining where you are or adapting to change.
• Implementation Timeline & Milestones:?Any implementation plan needs a clear agreed timeline as well as key milestones so that you can easily keep track of its progress to work successfully.?
• Team Roles & Responsibilities:?A CompassASSIST implementation plan won’t work by itself. It will involve working with many people each with assigned roles and responsibilities to make up a successful team.

If you would like more information, request our CompassASSIST prospectus .