A new guide from Alcumus outlines Common Challenges in Contractor Management (and how to solve them).
For many organisations, contractors are an essential part of the business, their specialised skills play a vital role from strategic projects to day-to-day maintenance. Research identified that fulfilling your duty of care when using contractors, and lack of time and availability to audit work, were the two biggest challenges faced by HSEQ leaders when managing contractors1.
If the contractors you hire don’t have a strong safety record, the right insurance, or strong risk management skills, they could end up costing your company a lot of money or worse, a fatality.
Checking contractors based on safety performance helps you to fulfil your requirements and offers peace of mind that the contractor you choose has the knowledge and understanding required to manage risk, complete the job safely, and maintain a safe working environment. To overcome these challenges, organisations need to build a more robust contactor management capability. Contracting work out does not mean you are contracting out responsibility for the risk.
At Alcumus we work with nearly half of the FTSE 100 so we know what we’re talking about when it comes to HSEQ risk. We’ve put together a guide to outline the Common Challenges in Contractor Management (and how to solve them) to help organisations like you. In this blog we outline our top 5 tips to derisk your supply chain and meet your HSEQ obligations.
1. Pre-Qualify contractors and suppliers
If you don’t pre-qualify the contractors and suppliers you work with, either on your own or through a third party, you’re potentially risking yourself to legal and financial implications. You should ideally assess safety statistics, regulatory compliance, past performance and reputation as well as any necessary insurance and training requirements, so you have peace of mind that they’re a good fit for the job.
2. Adopt a technology-led approach
By adopting a technology-led approach and access to your data in one place, your entire organisation will have greater visibility when it comes to your supply chain. Managing suppliers is often complex and time-consuming. By investing in a contractor or supply chain management system, you’ll have the right support and effective management process in place. Create a list of your management system needs, then narrow your system options down to a few good choices that meet your criteria.
3. Monitor, review and manage issues
By monitoring and reviewing performance throughout the contract period means you can safeguard compliance from your contractor or supplier. Even when everything is in place, things can still go wrong. Any issues that arise should be managed and corrective action put in place to prevent the issue from happening again.
4. Diversify your suppliers
Using a single supplier means supply chain risks are more concentrated, and any issues with your supplier are likely to disrupt your entire supply chain. By diversifying your supplier base, you can spread risks and reduce your risks.
5. Have backup suppliers
If one of your suppliers is unable to fulfil their role in your supply chain, it’s your responsibility to make sure that if you prevent supply chain disruptions and delays by bringing alternative suppliers on board as quickly as possible. Identify suitable suppliers and carry out the same checks you would when choosing a primary supplier.
To learn more about the challenges that organisations face, and how you can implement some of these best practice tips, download the new eBook here: Common Challenges in Contractor Management (and how to solve them).
Sources:
- Benchmarking Contractor Management, Alcumus 2020
