HB BRANCH NZISM Managing Contractors Sergai Davis & Jennie Kuzman  Its about communication, the nature of the relationship, and establishing health and safety expectations during the course of that relationship

Managing contractors in 2016  Who has to deal with them?  They should just do what they are told  If you don’t ask questions they can’t tell stories  I work hard at getting it right, How can I make them change?  So why do I need to manage them?

36 - Primary duty of care Primary duty of care ( HSWA) A business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers and that other people are not put at risk by its work. In the context of HSWA, this is called the ‘primary duty of care’. This means ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable: the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU. This includes employees or contractors, including their sub-contractors or workers ) while they are at work in the business or undertaking the health and safety of workers whose work activities are influenced or directed by the PCBU while the workers are carrying out the work, for example a franchise company whose franchise requirements influence or direct the workers of the franchisee. that other persons are not put at risk by the work of the business or undertaking. For example, visitors to the workplace, or members of the public could be affected by a work activity.

So when is a worker under my care ?  An individual who carries out work in any capacity for a PCBU, including work as:  an employee; or  a contractor or subcontractor; or an employee of a contractor or subcontractor; or  an employee of a labour hire company who has been assigned to work in the business or undertaking; or  an outworker (including a homeworker); or an apprentice or a trainee;  a person gaining work experience or undertaking a work trial; or a volunteer worker;  a person of a prescribed class. ??? Anyone?. Couple of interesting examples  A police constable is:  a worker; and at work throughout the time when they are on duty or are lawfully performing the functions of a police constable, but not otherwise.  A member of the Armed Forces is:  a worker; and at work throughout the time when they are on duty or are lawfully performing the functions of a member of the Armed Forces, but not otherwise or when operational requirements dictate.  A PCBU is also a worker if the business or undertaking is an individual who carries out work in that business or undertaking. ( LOOKING AFTER ONE SELF )

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Good contractors  Get it right first time, and if they don’t they let you know what they are going to do about it.  Save you effort, time, money……work towards a common goal…  Contribute to the efficiency of the project / business  Reduce the Risk profile  Enhance your reputation for getting things done, on time and under budget

Bad Contractors  Don’t always get it right, ever..!  Cost you time, time is money  Drive down your reputation  Increase your risk profile  Create undue stress and wasted effort and……… HS staff turnover………..

And the Ugly

So where to start???

Good Practise Guidelines “A principal’s guide to contracting to meet the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992” The guideline is still useful but we should now start to think about ‘PCBU’s’ rather than just ‘Principals’ and “Contractors’. Also remember the requirements to communicate and co-operate when engaging with other PCBU’s

Contract Management Process SCOPING THE WORK PRE- QUALIFYING THE CONTRACTOR CONTRACTOR SELECTION UNDERTAKING THE WORK MONITORING THE CONTRACT POST CONTRACT REVIEW

Scoping the Work The PCBU is required to think about health and safety from the beginning of the project and build in considerations into design and planning. The PCBU will identify the work that needs to be undertaken, identify the hazards and associated risks, and whether the work requires specialised tradespeople.

Prequalifying the Contractor PCBU’s must take steps to show that contractors are qualified to do the work, are competent and have a good safety record. As you may know, HDC maintains a register of approved contractors – sourced from a standard prequalification process, this is how HDC satisfies its ‘due diligence’ with regards to ensuring that contractors are qualified, competent and have a good safety record

Prequalification could be done by the PCBU using an internal prequalification process Or It could be done using externally through an agency which specialises in this. E.g.. Site Safe offer “sitewise”, Impac offer “Prequal” and there are many others.

Contractor Selection From the guidelines: It is also important that PCBU’s share information with contractors regarding relevant health and Safety requirements when tendering or awarding a contract for services, e.g. Hazard & Risk Management, emergency provisions etc

Undertaking the Work This is the part where PCBU’s really need to ensure that they actively communicate and co-operate. What happens when the contract is awarded (or contractor engaged) does depend upon the nature of the work being undertaken. If the work involved is high risk such as working at height, confined spaces, hot work, excavation etc. then the PCBU will often require a contractor to complete a site health and safety plan before work is undertaken. Whereas If the work involved is of a ‘routine maintenance’ nature and is of short duration, contractors will often not be required to submit a health and safety plan. They are still required to maintain there own Health and safety systems e.g. a process for hazard management.

Lessons I have learnt.! It takes two to raise the bar. He/she could be your best contractor, they just need a bit of guidance and support.

Monitoring the Contract The PCBU has a duty to monitor its contractors and subcontractors performance. This can be undertaken through:  Regular meetings and communications;  Observations, Inspections or Audits; at which any issues or unsafe work practises observed should be discussed and rectified.  Investigating and responding to accidents and incidents. Contractors should always report and incidents that occur whilst undertaking work for a PCBU (including near misses).

Post Contract Review When work is complete, the PCBU and Contractor will review the quality of the work against the job specification and the contractors performance. Consideration should be given to how well the contractor fulfilled the health and safety requirements whilst completing the work and should establish whether the contractor is suitable for further work.

NZISM Learnings So what do you do?. What has worked?. How do you measure and provide feedback?

Any Questions?