The RCT Source

No – you must follow the requirements set out in the Council’s document ‘Contract Procedure Rules’.

Advice on all issues relating to the procedure for the appointment of contractors can be obtained from the Council’s Corporate Procurement Unit.

Yes, there is a recommended five step approach to managing contractors, as follows:

1.  Planning

• consider the work to be done, taking into consideration any lessons learnt from similar works in the past;
• carry out initial risk assessments, which should help determine what further risk assessments may be necessary before the commencement of works;
• determine whether or not any permits to work will be necessary, such as for hot work like welding;
• where risks can be eliminated or reduced at this stage, do so.

2.  Choosing a contractor

• make health and safety one of your key conditions when considering the various contractors available;
• specify your requirements for health and safety when asking them to quote/tender for the contract;
• ask questions and get evidence from the contractors on such issues as their: experience; health and safety policy and practice; training and competence; supervision arrangements;
• develop preferred contractors who you can rely on and who have established arrangements for health and safety;
• determine whether or not the contractor intends to employ sub-contractors and, if so, how it will be ensured that the sub-contractors will be competent to carry out the relevant work;
• once the contractor has been chosen, exchange all necessary health and safety information, such as any risks to the contractor’s employees whilst they are on site, emergency arrangements, e.g. fire procedure, any risks the contractor is bringing to the site, e.g. increased fire risk due to hot work such as welding.

It is recommended that before going through the selection process for choosing a contractor, you check with Corporate Estates and/or Procurement, who may already have a contract in place with a contractor for the type of work you wish carried out.

3.  Contractors on site

• appoint someone to act as a site contact for the contractors to liaise with them on all health and safety issues;
• review risk assessments produced prior to the commencement of works to determine if any relevant facts have changed and, if so, amend the risk assessments accordingly;
• make arrangements to ensure that the contractor’s employees sign in and out so that there is an ongoing record of who is present on site at any given time;
• agree working methods, including any safe systems of work, permits to work, etc. that are deemed necessary.

4.  Monitoring

• depending on the nature and duration of the works, if necessary arrange regular meetings with the contractor to monitor the progress of the works;
• check how the works are progressing against the planned schedule agreed at the planning stage;
• check how the works are progressing against the agreed job specification;
• check how the work is being carried out against the agreed working methods, including any safe systems of work, permits to work etc.;
• check if any further risk assessments need to be carried out and control measures introduced.

5.  Reviewing the work

• consider how effective the initial planning was;
• consider how well the contractor performed, both in terms of health and safety and the quality of the work;
• consider if any lessons can be learned for similar future contracts.

When choosing a contractor, the main points to consider from a health and safety perspective are:

• making health and safety one of your key conditions when considering the various contractors available;
• specifying your requirements for health and safety when asking them to quote/tender for the contract;
• ask questions and get evidence from the contractors on such issues as their: experience; health and safety policy and practice; training and competence; supervision arrangements;
• developing preferred contractors who you can rely on and who have established arrangements for health and safety;
• determining whether or not the contractor intends to employ sub-contractors and, if so, how it will be ensured that the sub-contractors will be competent to carry out the relevant work. 

It is recommended that before going through the selection process for choosing a contractor, you check with Corporate Estates and/or Procurement, who may already have a contract in place with a contractor for the type of work you wish carried out.

Contractors are anyone the Council engages to carry out work who are not employees.

Generally, there will be a responsibility for both an appropriate officer of the Council and the contractor to carry out risk assessments, as follows:

Council officer

• reviewing existing risk assessments to take into account the contract work and determining if any additional control measures are necessary, such as re-routing emergency escape routes if existing ones will be obstructed by the contract work;
• in relation to hazards involved with premises and work processes factors, such as if the contractor’s employees will be exposed to hazardous substances in the workplace.

Contractor

• in relation to hazards involved with the contract work to be carried out.

The desired end result should be that:           

• assessments have been carried out that have identified all the hazards associated with the contract work;
• preventative and protective measures have been identified and implemented to control the hazards;
• the health and safety responsibilities of both the appropriate Council officer and the contractor have been identified and agreed, including who is responsible for carrying out any additional risk assessments that may be necessary as the work progresses.