Health & Safety Management Lecturing Resource
for
Quarrying Related Degree Courses
LECTURE NOTES – TOPIC 8:
MANAGING THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF
CONTRACTORS
Objectives of this Section

To define what is meant by a contractor and to outline the types and
role of contractors in the quarrying industry;

To outline the duties, roles and responsibilities of companies and
contractors

To outline the principals of managing the health and safety of
contractors prior to, and during their work on site

To introduce the Contractor Passport scheme currently being
initiated by the quarrying industry.
1.0
Introduction
The term 'Contractor' refers to any individual or organisation who enters into an agreement
(either written or orally) with a Company to carry out services. There is a continual trend
towards increasing the use of contractors in the quarrying industry and the activities carried
out by contractors are no longer restricted to those of the “specialist” and now include routine
quarrying activities such as vehicle driving, drilling, blasting etc.
Contracts in the quarrying industry can be classified as follows:
Major Contracts
Contracts involving very large expenditure and a long period
on site. Examples include haulage contracts and plant
operation.
Medium/minor
Contracts with substantial expenditure. Examples include
contracts
construction projects.
Casual Contracts
Contracts involving low expenditure over short periods
Labour hire Contracts
Labour hire only with principal organising and managing the
work task. Examples include maintenance labour for shut
downs.
Restricted site access
Access to site is brief and restricted. Examples include
visitors, deliveries, office equipment repairers etc.
With respect to contractors, a company’s time and resources are frequently allocated in
proportion to the size of the contract. Therefore major and medium size contracts use formal
contractual documentation and processes are more detailed and thorough. Minor contracts
and casual contracts are generally less well controlled with perceived bureaucratic
procedures and processes being avoided. Consequently occupational health and safety
issues may require more vigilance with relatively minor contracts.
The majority of the following measures are either explicit or implicit requirements of current
legislation, including the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. They
are essential for all contractor operations regardless of the size of the contract.
2
2.0
The Quarry/Contractor Relationship
Whilst the use of contractors provides the industry with advantages such as flexibility, fixed
costs etc. the health and safety implications for a Company using contractors are just as
onerous as for those applying to its own employees. Responsibilities when employing the
contractor are set out below.
Duty
All Companies have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, to take all
reasonably practicable steps to ensure the heath and safety of:

their employees;

other people at work on the site, such as contractors;

members of the public who may be affected by the work.
As a company, the Contractor also has a duty to ensure the safety, health and welfare of his
employees and others who may be affected, wherever they may work. They must provide a
safe place of work and a safe system of work on client's, premises just as they are obliged to
on their own premises.
Under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations, 1999, all employers are
required to undertake an assessment of the risks which effect employees and anyone else
who may be effected by the work, including contractors. Other duties include the provision of
training, co-operating with others on site (including contractors) on health and safety matters
and providing health and safety information.
3
3.0
Managing the Health and Safety of Contractors
Five steps to managing the health and safety of contractors is given in the following
diagram1.
Step 1: Planning
Define the job
Identify hazards
Assess and control risks
Specify health & safety conditions
Step 2: Selecting a Contractor
What H&S competence is needed
Go through information about job
and site
Ask for a safety method statement
Step 3: Working on Site
Contractors sign in and out
Name a site contact
Reinforce any H&S information
and site rules
Check job and allow work to
begin.
Step 4: Keeping a Check
Assess degree of contact needed
How is the job going
Step 5: Reviewing the Work
Review job and contractor
Record the lessons.
1
after HSE (1997), Managing Contractors – A Guide for Employers, HSE Books.
4
Planning
The first step is to plan what the contractors job involves and how it can be done safely. After
defining the scope of work, a risk assessment should be carried out to identify any significant
potential hazards to safety and health. Following this, the company should develop a bid list
through a formal or informal pre-qualification process which includes the scope of work, the
risk assessment and other tendering information. Contractors also have responsibility to
carry out a risk assessment and should do so before work commences at the tender stage.
In order to be satisfied as to the competency of the contractor in the management of health
and safety, it is common for companies to send out or use a pre- qualification check list at
the tendering stage. A list of the minimum health and safety requirements for small
contractors that could be used as the basis of such a checklist is as follows2:
2
After Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (1998): A Guide to Contractor
Occupational Health and Safety Management for Western Australian mines.
Minerals and Energy.
5
Perth: Chamber of
Contractors Checklist for Small Contracts (Minimum Requirements)
Health & Safety Policy

A safety and health Policy with clearly stated objectives, signed by the Managing
Director (or equivalent) and dated.
Responsibility and Accountability

A documented risk assessment and safe system of work for the task in question.

A documented programme for regular inspections of all plant and equipment.

A documented process to inform employees of changes to legislation, codes of
practices, standards etc.
Induction and Training

A record of each employees induction training, ongoing training and health surveillance.
PPE

Availability of all necessary forms of PPE

Evidence that persons have been instructed in the correct usage and maintainence of
the same

Documented procedure for the regular inspection of equipment and its replacement
when necessary
Hazardous Materials

A documented COSHH assessment for hazardous substances brought onto site
Incident Reporting & Investigation

A documented procedure for the reporting of all accidents, incidents and near misses, as
required by the company and by RIDDOR.

An ongoing record of all accidents, incidents and near-misses.
6
Selecting a Contractor
Once tenders have been received they should be evaluated to establish whether the
contractor has:

an appropriate health and safety management system (such as policies, procedures and
practices) that are in keeping with the task in question and the standards set by the
employing Company and legislation.

the resources necessary and available to implement that management system on site.

carried out a risk assessment and documented a safe system of work;

a good record of occupational health and safety performance in work of a similar nature.
Some companies may have a list of ‘approved contractors’ who meet all the requirements
listed above which are re-assessed on an annual basis, rather than before each particular
job.
Working on Site
Once a contractor commences work on site it is important that they are aware of the site
safety rules that apply to them and any particular hazards that they face. It is good practice
to:

Control the coming and going of contractors in and out of the premises.

Provide induction on the site conditions, facilities, safety rules and practices required.

Name a site contact (someone to get in touch with on a routine basis or if the jobs
changes and there is uncertainty about what to do). This person should be somebody
nominated who is in a managerial position with sufficient authority and competence
(such as the production, operation, or safety manager on site). This person should go
through the job with the contractor to ensure that all necessary controls are in place
(such as permits to works, PPE, procedures etc.)

Establish a timetable for formal and regular review of the contractors safety management
system through inspections, audits and safety meetings.
7
Keeping a check
Having established a timetable for over-inspections and audits of the contractor’s health and
safety management system it is important that this is undertaken in order to ascertain how
the job is going, in particular:

Is it going as planned?

Are the contractors health and safety systems actually in place and are they being
followed? Are they working safely.

Have there been any incidents?

Are any other special arrangements necessary?
Such inspections and audits should also be undertaken regularly on the companies own
health and safety systems in line with the management system model outlined in Topic 4 of
this course.
Reviewing the work
Once the job has been completed it is necessary to review the job. Reviewing is about
evaluating the quality of the work against both the job and the contractor’s performance. One
reason for this is to learn what will be done differently next time in order to:

Review the outcomes and achievements of the contractor

Verify the adequacy of procedures in place;

Amend or add to the procedures if necessary;

Record and rate the overall performance of the contractor against established criteria.

Provide feedback to contractor.
8
4.0
Recent Initiatives in Quarries – The Contractor Passport
Scheme 3(January 2001)
The use of ‘Induction Procedures’ for Contractors is now common place within the industry.
Reputable employers will not allow Contractors to commence work on site unless they have
undergone a detailed (and often lengthy) induction session to explain site hazards, local
procedures and methods of work etc.
The whole process is time consuming, particularly for the Contractors who have to face the
“induction” each time they move to a new site. The information is often the same delivered
with huge variations in quality, content and relevance.
The concept of a ‘Safety Passport’ is to ensure that all contractors have received a basic
level of Health and Safety (and environmental) awareness before they arrive on site and
their level of understanding has been tested. It is not intended as a measure of competence
for any given task.
The ‘Safety Passport’ effectively reduces any site induction to those elements, which are site
or job specific. All concerned are in a ‘win’ situation, with everyone having to devote less
time and resources to the induction process.
The Contractors Safety Passport Scheme will ensure that all contractors have received a
basic level of Health, Safety and Environmental awareness relevant to the industry before
they arrive on site and their level of understanding has been tested.
The scheme is not designed to be a measure of competence for any given task.
The scheme aims to raise health, safety and environmental standards amongst contractors
and help contribute towards a positive safety culture within the industry and reduce
accidents.
The passport was not to be seen as a measure of an individual’s ‘Competence’ to carry out a
particular task or activity, but would guarantee they were aware of any industry specific
hazards and health, safety and environmental requirements.
3
For further information see Crawshaw A (2000) Contractors Safety Passport Scheme, in
Proceedings of the Quarry 2000 Millennium Conference, Bristol, October. Institute of Quarrying, UK.
9
To be able to demonstrate that Contractors had received a consistent level of Health, Safety
and Environment awareness training before they arrive on site.
Operation of the Scheme
Contractors will be required to have their employees successfully complete the 2 Day
‘Contractors Safety Passport’ course run by an approved SPA member company.
A ‘Safety Passport ID Card’ with a photograph is supplied to each successful attendee and
all records are held on a database administered by the SPA. EPIC will also hold a copy of
the database which will be up-dated monthly by SPA.
The scheme requires contractors to undertake a 1 day refresher course at regular intervals.
A period of 5 years has been suggested as being appropriate by the working group.
The scheme will be approved by EPIC and periodic audits of training providers will be
carried out by EPIC staff as a ‘quality assurance’ check of the training providers.
10