Date:             October 2023

Issue:            No. 6

Subject:        Management of Contractors for non-construction related work

This document forms part of the National Ice Centre’s organisational written safety policy arrangements. 

Departments, services or teams may consider it appropriate to develop additional guidance and systems of work on specific work related activities.

Where proposals, additional guidance or changes to systems of work will have an impact on health, safety and welfare, this will be discussed and agreed at the Health & Safety Committee.

If you have any questions or require further information or support on the contents of this document, please contact The NIC Health & Safety Advisor or Corporate Safety Advice.

Health & safety risks can take many forms, however, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has identified concerns about the management of contractors is an ongoing risk within large organisations.

In all circumstances, the responsible person for each site must be assured that all work occurring within their premises is being completed to an appropriate standard and that suitable documentation is in place.

Documents that in normal circumstances would be required will include the following dependent upon the activities of the contractor.

• Risk Assessments;
• Statutory Inspections;
• Method Statements.

Additional documentation may be required to address specific risks including:

• Permits to work on any on the following areas of work will be required;
• Gas work;
• Hot work;
• Working at height;
• Working within a confined space;

• Working on a live electrical supply;

The risk assessment and where applicable, method statements and other documentation provided by contractors must be signed and dated with a copy retained by the responsible person.

If you have any doubt about the work being undertaken or the documentation provided, please contact the NIC Health & Safety Advisor or Corporate Safety Advice.

There are a number of terms that are included within the management of contractors that clarify the legal definitions.  Please ensure that if you are a manager with responsibility for work that goes on within your premises, you are clear about what responsibilities you have and how they will be enforced.

Contract

A contract is a legally binding agreement for goods or services in return for payment.

Client

The client is considered to be the person who is in charge of the budget.

However when this is the National Ice Centre, a client officer should be identified.  A client will be considered as the premise responsible person if they organise the work directly with the contractor.

Contract Administrator

In respect of how the National Ice Centre manages the contract on site, the term ‘contract administrator’ means any colleague responsible for any part of the contract management process, including specifying, tendering, letting, monitoring, or supervising.

In real terms the contract administrator must be considered as the person who takes control of contract during the planning and working phase of the work being undertaken.

Contractor

A contractor is anyone who does paid work for the National Ice Centre.

This can include cleaners, caterers, computer consultants, lift or electrical engineers, builders, care providers, or external trainers.

Contractors could be self-employed individuals, or employees of a business, commercial organisation.

Ensure that any services work (gas, electrics and water) must be done by a suitably qualified and competent person (this check is the responsibility of the responsible person).

Premises Responsible Person

Where the work is managed by a contract administrator or their representative, they will be the first point of contact should any queries or problems arise.  If however the work has been organised by the client directly, they must identify who will be this first point of contact will be.

This first point of contact must be either based on site where the work is being undertaken or readily available to provide assistance at that site.

Ensure that any services work (gas, electrics and water) must be done by a suitably qualified and competent person (this check is the responsibility of the responsible person).

Volunteer

A volunteer is anyone who does unpaid work for the National Ice Centre.

They may include people who help in schools, elderly persons’ homes and museums.

 Employees can also be classed as volunteers if they do work activities other than their contracted duties.

As a Manager, you must not use volunteers for any task without checking that they’re competent to undertake the activity.

This same principle applies to the management of volunteers and protecting their well-being as  is in place for other contractors.

Suitable risk assessments must be completed to cover any risk activities and involve volunteers before they begin working.  The person who plans any work utilising volunteers must do these health and safety checks and risk assessments.

On Site

Contractors may undertake work for the National Ice Centre in a whole range of places and settings.

For simplicity, this document considers the general phrase ‘on site’ to mean any location that contractors undertake work for on behalf of the NIC.

Once a contract commences and dependent on the type of work that is being undertaken, the areas that are being worked upon may be considered as being under the control of the contractor until the work is complete or formally handed back to the client.

During these times, the contractor and the premises responsible person must work together to maintain safety standards.

Managers must ensure that any work that considers a need for a contractor to undertake work must ensure that prior to it commencing, a suitable and robust selection process is in place to identify appropriate contractor and any other person involved in the commissioning process are all competent to understand and make the appropriate selection.

Before any work commences by a contractor, the following must be considered:-

• Who has organised the work?
• Where applicable, is the contractor on an approved selection list?
• Are the contractors who they say they are?
• What activities are the contractors going to undertake?
• Have all relevant approvals been obtained e.g Building Regulations, Planning and Licensing etc.?
• Are they going to undertake work where asbestos may be potentially disturbed?  All contractors must be shown the asbestos log book and made to sign the document.  Further information can be found in Safety Policy and Arrangements – ‘Managing Asbestos in the Workplace’   
• Are there any special precautions required e.g. are they working on roofs, working in confined spaces, undertaking hot work, use hazardous substances onto the site, are they working alone, fire work etc
• When will the work be completed.
• Who will they report to upon completion of the work.
• Does the work need checking upon completion.
• Is there a need by the contractor to utilise any National Ice Centre equipment on site.  Unless this has been previously agreed and accepted by all parties, contractors must not be allowed to use The National Ice Centre equipment.
• Do colleagues need to be given advanced warning about planned works.
• Do service users or the public need to be warned about, or protected from or removed from the contractors’ activities e.g. warning signs, barriers, access control.
• Are contractors aware of local rules and procedures e.g. no smoking, emergency procedures, first aid provision etc.
• Does it seem that the contractor might be taking a ‘short cut’ to get the work done.
• Are there any specific hazards that the contractor might be exposed to that we should tell them about that are unique to the site.
• Is there a need for and has the contractor provided information about their Public Liability Insurance.

If relevant, where any of the above is not in place, it is the role of the client or their representative to ensure that work does not commence until all the outstanding concerns have been addressed and documented.

It is important that the client as identified previously is fully aware of their responsibilities prior to the commencement of any contract.

If any queries relating to the above are identified, contact with NIC Health & Safety Advisor or Corporate Safety Advice must be sought.

Prior to the commencement of any work, the client, their representative or contract administrator must liaise with the contractor to ensure contract-specific risk assessments and method statements, are completed and in place and planning and building regulations are complied with where applicable.

They must also ensure that all relevant health and safety legislation is met including.

The person who is commissioning the work must also:

• agree, implement and publicise protective measures both to their own employees and those that will be affected by the work that is to be undertaken.
• make sure the contractor has the appropriate level of insurance cover and record their insurers’ details.
• set up processes for sharing information and coordinating risk control measures between all parties
• ensure welfare facilities and relevant services (power / water) are in place prior to the commencement of work,
• arrange site-specific inductions with contractors which must include details of on-site hazards, risk assessments and emergency arrangements so they can be integrated into the contractors own working systems.
• clearly define contractors’ areas of work which include responsibilities, locations and times.
• decide what needs to be done to manage and supervise contractors effectively on site and agree who will be responsible for doing this.
• agree monitoring arrangements with contractors.

Building and building maintenance works may be organised through Facilities Management to ensure that all requirements are met and that the contractor does not exceed their contract sum.

If work is to be ordered directly, contact with relevant department, service or section who should able to provide support and assistance to ensure that the correct decisions are made.

Where the client has organised the work themselves, then they must also meet these requirements.

This applies to all contract work they commission directly.

All Contractors must ensure that they work safely and:

• comply with relevant health and safety legislation and Corporate policies
• cooperate with us to make sure relevant legal requirements are maintained
• only work in the agreed areas and not transgress outside these areas unless the works require. (e.g. where workers make noise around a building and put themselves & occupants at risk)
• provide valid relevant insurance documentation .
• produce original copies of relevant certificates, licences and accreditations for inspection if asked to do so
• provide and work to approved method statements and specific risk assessments as appropriate.
• follow any permit to work procedures appropriate for the work or site.  These might be for hot work, entry into confined spaces, or work in areas with hazards such as asbestos.
• report accidents, incidents, dangerous occurrences and cases of occupational disease that happen or develop while working for us.
• make sure their employees and all sub-contractors behave acceptably when working for us and are sensitive to other people in the workplace.
• have effective housekeeping arrangements.

Managers need to ensure that contractors comply with all ‘premises’ rules’ which may include specific health and safety conditions that apply to the area where the contractors will be working and this could include:

a ban on smoking or using mobile phones

• a requirement to wear eye or head and foot protection
• specific access arrangements including delivery times
• a ban on certain substances or equipment
• required permit to work systems
• waste disposal arrangements.

Out of hours working means any time to which the site wouldn’t normally be open, operational or staffed.  This may include evenings, weekends and holiday periods.

The National Ice Centre does not allow contractors to work on our premises outside normal working hours without the completion of a formal risk assessment being completed and identifying:

• that contractors can work without direct control and without the need to be directly supervised or managed by an appropriate NIC employee within or around the premises.
• the necessary preventative measures that have been identified by the assessment being implemented.

This is still the case even where it is identified that the work is best undertaken outside of the normal operation of the premises due to the nature of the activities being undertaken.

If direct supervision is needed, then this person must be identified before final approval for the work to commence is given.

This nominated person must have sufficient knowledge of the work being undertaken and the environment that it is in and must have the authority to stop the work and order changes if they have concerns.

They must then order appropriate changes or get expert advice before allowing work to continue.

In a majority of cases, the work being undertaken will be of short duration and following the initial setting up of the work, the work will be undertaken and completed and then passed back.

Where this is not the case and long term work is undertaken, regular liaison meetings throughout the contract will required and should include feedback and discussion on the progress of the work.

These site meetings should promote cooperation and coordination by ensuring all parties are aware of all relevant information

Relevant information from these meetings must be shared with those who could be affected by the work.  This might include employees, contractors, service users, partners and other tenants in shared premises.

The Contract Administrator or client should check to ensure that contractors and subcontractors are:

• working safely
• following agreed method statements and safe working procedures
• following health and safety rules.

If these checks reveal unsafe work practices, then immediate action to deal with the problem must be considered.

Depending on the circumstances, this might include:

• stopping the job temporarily while minor problems are put right
• suspending the contract while major issues are resolved
• excluding workers who fail to follow our rules and standards
• removing the contractor from our approved lists.

Whatever action is taken, formal documentation must always be provided and retained and identifying what the poor performance related to, and what specific action was taken.

Asbestos Management

In addition to the above controls, where work is being undertaken and an unknown material is identified which may contain asbestos, work must stop immediately.

The area must be isolated and contact must be made with the NIC Health & Safety Advisor or  Corporate Safety Advice for further advice.

Colleagues must be briefed about planned or emergency contract work which has relevant health, safety or welfare implications it has for them.

This may include the need for additional protective measures while contract work is being done, or changes to work activities and emergency arrangements.

Employees have responsibilities as well as rights.

For management to take appropriate action, it is expected that employees will:

• report any hazards, risks or unsafe situations they identify at work.  This includes work involving contractors or subcontractors.
• co-operate and be proactive in all health and safety issues
• report any problems or shortcomings in the National Ice Centre’s health and safety arrangements.  This includes any concerns they have about contractors or contract management procedures.