By Hugh Maxwell, MSc, CFIOSH, FIIRSM, FCMI, MIoL
Managing Director – Maxwell Safety
In high-risk environments, contractor management is too often treated as a paperwork exercise: pre-qualification questionnaires, competency matrices, insurance certificates, and neatly signed contracts.
Offshore, where vessels, divers, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) teams, salvage specialists, and multiple contractors can all be operating side by side, that approach isn’t just inadequate. In practice, it’s dangerous.
Because when the weather turns, a cable route shifts, a diver is in the water, or an EOD decision has to be made in minutes, a spreadsheet won’t keep anyone safe.
Contractor Management Offshore Is a Leadership Issue, Not an Admin Process
On recent Baltic Sea projects I supported, including complex multi-vessel UXO identification, clearance, and cable-related operations on OST6.1 and OW3, one reality became clear very quickly:
- Everyone arrived approved.
- Very few arrived aligned.
Each contractor came with their own:
- Management systems
- Risk assessment formats
- Terminology
- Safety rules
- Cultural norms
- Assumptions about “how things are done”
On paper, they were competent; on deck, at critical times, they were fragmented. This fragmentation is where lives are put at risk.
The projects did not demand better paperwork—they demanded better leadership integration.
The Biggest Contractor Risk: Assumed Understanding
One of the most consistent failure points offshore is assumption:
- Assumption that everyone interprets stop-work authority the same way
- Assumption that diver teams and vessel crews share the same escalation thresholds
- Assumption that toolbox talks mean the same thing across nationalities
- Assumption that silence equals understanding
In reality, assumptions multiply risk faster than any technical hazard.
During OST6.1 and OW3, success came from deliberately challenging assumptions early –before pressure, weather, or schedule compression forced decisions to be made under stress.
Effective contractor management must therefore focus on alignment before execution, not simply approval before mobilisation.
From “Your System vs My System” to “Our Way of Working”
The turning point on complex offshore projects occurs when leadership intentionally shifts the conversation from:
“Show me your system.”
to
“This is how we work together on this project.”
That shift was fundamental to stabilising performance across vessels, dive teams, UXO specialists, and marine contractors.
It required three deliberate actions.
1. One Safety Language
Not one company system – but one agreed way of speaking about risk:
- Common definitions
- Shared stop-work triggers
- Clear authority lines
- Agreed escalation pathways
When pressure rises offshore, people default to what they understand instinctively. Alignment must exist before that moment arrives.
On successful Baltic Sea campaigns, shared language reduced hesitation, removed ambiguity, and accelerated safe decision-making during dynamic conditions.
2. Leadership Presence Where Work Happens
Contractor management does not live in meetings.
It lives:
- On deck
- In control rooms
- During toolbox talks
- Subsea performing safety-critical tasks
- In informal conversations before critical tasks
Visible, consistent leadership presence removed the “us and them” dynamic far faster than any procedure ever could.
On OST6.1 and OW3, leadership visibility was not symbolic – it was operational. It created trust, flattened hierarchies during critical moments, and reinforced that safety leadership was active, not delegated.
3. Performance Over Paper
The strongest indicator of contractor effectiveness offshore is not documentation quality. It is:
- Willingness to speak up
- Quality of SHOC and near-miss reporting
- Engagement in dynamic risk assessments
- Speed of escalation when conditions change
Where contractors felt psychologically safe, risk surfaced early.
Where they did not, it stayed hidden until it became an incident.
The most successful phases of these projects were characterised by high reporting, open challenge, and proactive intervention- not because the rules changed, but because the environment encouraged honesty.
When Everyone Is a Contractor, Culture Becomes the Control
On multi-vessel offshore projects:
- Contractors often outnumber client staff
- Specialists rotate frequently
- Nationalities, languages, and disciplines mix daily
In these conditions, culture becomes the primary risk control.
Not culture as a slogan – but culture as:
- Trust
- Clarity
- Consistency
- Accountability
- Respect for expertise
The strongest signal of success was not an audit score – it was hearing contractors and vessel management say:
“This feels like one team – even though we come from different companies.”
That does not happen by accident. It happens because leaders choose integration over compliance theatre.
A Final Thought
Contractor management is not about control; It is about connection.
The question every HSE and project leader should ask is not:
“Are our contractors approved?”
But:
“Would I trust this team when conditions deteriorate?”
Because offshore, they eventually will; and when they do, leadership – not paperwork – determines the outcome.
About the Author:
Hugh J. Maxwell BSc MSc CFIOSH FIIRSM RSP CMgr FCMI FIoL
Managing Director, Maxwell Safety Limited
Hugh Maxwell is an international HSE and Risk professional with extensive global leadership experience, bridging board-level strategy and operational delivery in high-risk environments. He is recognised for strong communication, project management, persuasion and coaching skills, working effectively with senior leaders and frontline teams across all stages of safety maturity.
