Ensuring Competence
All employers of contractors have a Duty of Care to ensure that any contractors they employ are competent to undertake the work required.
All employers of contractors must ensure that their contractors have been the subject of a successful written pre-employment operational evaluation in order to appear on their Select List of Approved Contractors.
Questionnaires
In addition to operational evaluation, all employers of contractors must ensure that relevant Safety Questionnaires are completed and assessed before work commences.
Successful contractors should show a satisfactory level of both technical and health & safety understanding in order to achieve the degree of competence that is deemed as acceptable by the employer. By attaining the required levels, contractors will demonstrate an ability to provide Safety Policies, Plans, Systems of Work and other relevant information that may be requested from time to time.
Contractors should also be able to demonstrate that their employees are aware of and comply with all relevant statutory Health & Safety Regulations, Approved Codes of Practice and Guidance for their activities.
Types of Questionnaire
When determining the type of questionnaire required, employers of contractors should consider the following:
- Would the contractor be carrying out work which could not reasonably be deemed as part of the employer's undertaking e.g. roofing work or electrical work?
- Would the contractor be carrying out work which could reasonably be deemed as part of the employer's undertaking e.g. grass cutting?
Employers Responsibilities
In general terms, those contractors who would be carrying out work that would not be deemed as part of the employer's undertaking e.g. plumbing would be owed a Duty of Care by the employer to inform them of any known risks that would affect their work including any site rules and emergency procedures.
For those contractors who would be carrying out work that would be deemed as part of the employer's undertaking e.g. mole draining. The employer would be held to have vicarious liability, as the work is within the scope of the employers operations.
Contractor Evaluation
The employer's manager/s should monitor their contractors in order to maintain a continuous evaluation of their contractor's performance. Continued contractor select list rating should largely be dependent on the comments recorded, together with past performance.
References
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Regulation 10