L E A D E R S H I P CHALLENGES IN M A N A G I N G CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES

Chapter 1.0 IntroDuCtIon 3

2.0 OHS SySTem fOr CONTraCTOrS’ maNagemeNT 4

3.0 aNalySIS Of daTa 9

4.0 CONTraCTOr SafeTy maNagemeNT 11

5.0 CONClUSION 23

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESIntroduction

Today emerging economies like China and India have caught the attention of the developed world not only for the vast potential the markets here hold for investment but also for the huge mass of low-cost labour.

There is a huge flow of Foreign Direct Investment in emerging economies leading to the inception of many infrastructure projects. also, quite a number of multinationals are setting up a manufacturing or service base to cut down on manpower cost.

The magnitude and complexity of the workforce required to drive the economic growth make it imperative for emerging economies to focus on occupational health to sustain the economic growth.

emerging economies have certain unique characteristics which differen-tiate them from the developed world. These unique characteristics are:a. High growth rates b. large population densityc. low-cost, low-knowledge workersd. Poor literacy ratese. about 70% of economically active population works in agriculture sectorf. employment in the unorganized sector may reach up to 70%

These economies bear more than 80% of the global burden of occupational disease and injury

according to a report by the International labour Organisation (IlO), 37% of the total fatal occupational injuries are contributed by China and India alone as compared to the 5% by developed market economies.

as regards lost Time Injuries, 36% are contributed by China and India alone as compared to the 4.5% by developed market economies.

The fatal accidents in factories in India also indicated high figure. Official statistics suggest there were more than 4000 documented fatalities in Indian factories. analysts say that even by the most conservative estimate, the actual numbers could be at least ten times higher if the accidents in the unorganised manufacturing sector are counted. International labour Organisation (IlO) had estimated that there could be 40,000 industrial fatalities in India on an average every year, with the actual number of injuries and deaths vastly under-reported because nearly 90 per cent of those employed outside of farming form part of the unorganised, informal sector. The estimated fatality rate by IlO is 11 for India compared to 0.8 for UK, 5 for the USa. China is at 12. So, there is a huge gap in fatality rate between developed countries and emerging economies.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES OHS system for contractors’

managementglobally, the International labour Organization (IlO) reports that “although there are no ILO instruments that specifically address contractors’ and subcontractors’ safety and health at work (or for training in the industry), those concerning occupational safety and health (OSH) in general emphasize the importance of OSH training for all workers. Safety training should focus on supporting preventive action and finding practical solutions.” Developed countries have formulated separate rules related to contractors’ and sub-contractors’ safety at work.

A definition of a Contractor is ‘anyone brought in by a client who is not an employee of the client to work at the client’s premises’. While every company has direct control over their own employees, the same control is not applicable to contractors’ workers. While companies have their own OHS policy, aligning the same with the contractor is difficult particularly for the small contractors in India. The risk of accident with the workers of the contractors is much more than the regular employees of a company.

occupational health & Safety (ohS)history of ohS

From its roots in Europe, as early as the 16th century the concept of Occupational Health has come a long way only to become a very integral part of the world economy & society.

In 1906 in milan an important step for the modern global workforce was the formation of the Permanent Commission on Occupational Health later renamed the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). Today, ICOH is the world’s leading international institution in the field of occupational health with a membership of 2,000 professionals representing nearly 100 countries.

Occupational Health & Safety is not a new concept for India. The existence of the Indian association of Occupational Health (IaOH) for the past 60 years since 1948 is a testimony of the same.

Why ohS?We are all aware of the several benefits of OHS: increased productivity, higher quality of work, increased workforce morale and reduced employee turnover, just to mention a few.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESYou have heard of “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs”, that human beings first look

to satisfy their physiological and safety needs before aiming for social, esteem and growth needs.

In line with this an individual at a workplace, also looks for health and safety first and its absence can be a serious de-motivator.

let me share with you some facts from the International labour Organization’s report on the global burden of occupational health illnesses:

1. Of the world’s 2.7 billion workers, about 2 million deaths are attributable to occupational diseases and injuries.

2. about 4% of the gdP is lost due to occupational diseases and injuries.

Health, Safety and environment are enablers for economic development. all the three aspects of the business are measured by their negative impact on people, assets and environment.

The damage is acute in the area of safety, chronic in the area of occupational health and persistent in the case of the environment. While the impact of safety is felt immediately, the effects of OH related diseases are felt over generations. a prime example in India is the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Safety in conjunction with occupational health (oh)Occupational health cannot be addressed in isolation but rather has an important relationship with safety. The various aspects of safety management actually aim at mitigating the risks to an individual at the work place through various methods like hazards analysis, risk assessment and safety information.

The best way to prevent accidents and occupational health hazards is at the design stage itself by incorporating best practices and configuring work processes.

People cannot react to the damage that they cannot see immediately.

Boiling water frog: If a beaker of water heated with a frog in inside, gradually it will die because it becomes complacent. But if a frog is thrown into a beaker of boiling water it will jump off immediately.

This analogy can be extended to OH and safety. for all accidents we see we tend to put in mitigation efforts. But for OH illnesses which have a long gestation time we tend to become like the frog in a gradually heated beaker.

So it is important to acknowledge that safety and occupational health always work in conjunction.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES While OHS is important for all nations, emerging economies have certain

peculiarities which make the implementation of OHS initiatives a complex issue. India and China together account for nearly a third of the world’s population.

Importance of ohS to emerging economiesThe emerging economies need to realize that Occupational health is a similar strategic enabler to their economic growth. Without sufficient focus and spending on occupational health emerging economies too would find their growth stagnating.

Here comes the importance of Business Process reengineering (BPr), which refers to a change for the better in running a business.

Some companies think of BPr when the going is good. most of them attempt this as a salvage measure when they run into trouble, by which time they neither have the time nor the energy or resources to manage any transition.

OHS in emerging economies is in a similar phase. They need to apply BPr right now when the going is good.

The emerging economies need to take a quantum jump to be at par with the developed world. But for this to happen various challenges need to be overcome and diverse issues need to be addressed in an effective manner.

the key issues areleadership mindset and corporate commitment

1. life cycle approach to OHS, investment in infrastructure and management systems

2. awareness, education and Training

3. regulatory framework and compliance

4. Use of Technology as a strategic enabler

Leadership Mindset and Corporate CommitmentIn emerging economies there is a little convergence of OHS with business. Business goals are mostly aligned with productivity and increased profits. Most organizations fail to recognize OH as a strategic enabler of sustained economic growth. also, business performance is not measured with respect to OHS. as a result there is no incentive for stakeholders to improve the OHS performance.

many organizations also view investing in OHS as a luxury or one of those things that are required for compliance.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESCertain industries also view OHS initiatives to be at cross-purposes with

productivity and profit enhancement. What these industries miss out is that a safe work environment would, in fact, go a long way to increasing the productivity of their employees and in turn that of the company.

also, companies fail to recognize a good OHS record can not only be a strategic differentiator but also a source of competitive advantage.

Poor quality of assets is another issue. most of the assets are out-dated and are not equipped to address the ergonomic demands of OH. also, many assets are made to ‘sweat’ beyond their capability and result in increased probability of OH injuries. for many organizations an annual medical check-up is considered as the ‘Be all’ and ‘end all’ of all OHS.

Hence, commitments to the OHS initiative have to start from the top. Till the top management does not invest time and resources to OHS, no OHS initiative can be successful.

The top management has to be convinced of the economic benefits of OHS initiatives and convert their “Let it go” attitude to that of a “can do”.

The management needs to state its objectives clearly and demonstrate leadership commitment to the entire organization.

further organizations should make OHS an integrated part of performance measurement.

It is no secret that what cannot be measured cannot be improved. The OH&S management program should include proactive measures like near miss reporting, accident investigations, risk assessment, auditing for compliance,

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES emergency management programs, mock drills, benchmarking with leading

companies in the field of OH&S, using inherently safe technologies, training and reliability programs.

all this should translate into investing in technology, infrastructure, education and training. All organizations should strive to have “Build a Safe Beginning” which means starting with health and safety as a core value well before the first day of work. By core value, it means that health and safety consciousness must be an essential value, not just a priority so that it is constantly thought of and actively used. for instance, there are slogans about “Health and safety being number one” and so on. However, when workplace financial pressures get bad and there are cutbacks, or conversely, even when times are good and workers are overly busy, focus on safety and health may be short-changed. However, if health and safety is a core value, then it is part of the mandatory elements of the functioning of the organization - an automatically assumed and ingrained business consideration that is not debated or compromised because it is truly at the core of workplace endeavours. Safety and health then become more than merely “required” - it is, in fact, endemic to the enterprise as much as breathing is to a human. Safety as a core value is what enterprises must continue striving for, so at the end of the working day, all people come home safe.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESAnalysis of data

The survey on Contractor Safety management on a group of industries depicts the following:

from the analysis, 16% of the total number of companies surveyed have scored >80%.Combining leadership and Contractor Safety management indicate that Contractor Safety management is following leadership commitment in most of the cases. On detail analysis of each element of Contractor Safety management System, following good systems observed:1) In most of the companies, a list of discipline wise contractors is available. 2) Prior risk assessment for the jobs to be performed by the contractor is

available with few companies. 3) Training is provided to contract workers by the company. 4) Testing certificates of equipment available in most of the companies.5) In some companies, total records of accident/incident recorded and

investigation system to find the root cause are available.

the shortcomings arising out of the submitted data are as under1) although the list of discipline-wise contractors’ list is available to most

of the companies, it is not clear whether they are SHe complied in pre-qualification stage.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES 2) Prior risk assessment is not available in most of the cases. If it is not

carried out, the requirement of safety precautions, PPe requirement cannot be identified before the job.

3) It is not clear whether the training provided to contract workers is related to risks of that particular job or general PPe training. a person who is supposed to work at height should be exposed to that training first based on the risk involved. Contractors’ supervisors are also to be trained for all risks related to the job and recorded.

4) Inspite of availability of documents and records, still the accident rate was found high. This raised question of implementing the documented procedure in actual practice.

5) In a number of cases, it is mentioned that the testing of equipment used by contractors are checked. But the certificate from a competent person whether the safety gadgets used by the contractor’s workers are fit for use or not is not evident.

6) SHe assessment system/rating for the contractor after completion of a job is not being done.

7) In some of the companies, records of incident/accident figures for a particular type job are not maintained.

In case of leadership quality, around 21% have achieved more than 80% score. Hence, continuous effort of leadership is essential to improve overall performance.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESContractor Safety

Managementmany organization hire contractors to perform a variety of services. Contracted services can vary from office cleaner to major construction activity. Health and safety law across Canada gives employers and work site owners duties and responsibilities for their own directly hired employees as well as for the employees of contractors.

In order to protect its own employees and its liability, an organization that engages the use of contractor must establish a comprehensive Contractor Safety management Program. a written contractor safety program must start by recognizing the legal concepts applicable to contracting in line with the OHS policy of the company. a contractor safety program must recognize and distinguish between situations where a “hands-on” due diligence strategy is required when contracting, and where a “hands-off” strategy may be utilized when contracting with a party such as a prime contractor or constructor.

a Contractor Safety management Program must be designed to establish a process that will manage the risks related to the use of contractors. The contractor safety management process provides consistent direction for managing contractor safety and helps protect employees and contractor personnel from workplace injury and occupational illness, and from losses associated with incidents related to the contracted work.

the 12 essential elements of workplace safety

Leadership elements

• management leads employees to safety excellence, by focusing on:

• demonstrated management commitment

• Policies and principles

• goals, objectives and plans

• Procedures and performance standards

Structural elements

establish structures that enable the pursuit of safety excellence, by focusing on:

• line management accountability and responsibility

• Safety personnel

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES • Integrated organization structure

• motivation and awareness

processes and action elementsensure actions are taken regularly to improve safety performance, by focusing on:

• effective communication

• Training and development

• Incident investigation

• audits and observations

a well-designed program will include:

proCeSS FLoWChart

ContraCtor

generic risk assessments based on previous experience of

these tasks

Sub Contractor considerations

detailed consideration for high risk activities

requirement for permits to work

Contractor to monitor and review arrangements

and to implement any revisions identified

Pre delivery Planning Health and Safety arrangement

Identified Tasks and activities

Site and task specific risk assessment

method Statement Plan to Work

Contact Implementation

monitoring and review of arrangements & Performances

discussion Cooperation & Coordination allocation of responsibility

CLIent

Strategic assessment of the foreseeable risks

Persons liable to be affected by the activity

access and emergency arrangements, etc.

Client to monitor and review performance of

contractor and to inform selection process

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESBusiness risk management

The management of health and safety is part of the process of orderly business risk management. By adopting this process, and developing a suitable policy, a business will seek to minimize the risk of loss to itself and people who either work for it or who may be affected by its activities through exposure to adverse events – for example, accidents, prosecutions in the criminal courts, claims in the civil courts, adverse publicity and loss of business reputation. By doing so, it will help to protect its future and the livelihood of those who work in it. Uncontrolled activities involving contractors can lead to business loss as demonstrated in the previous cases. The need for sound business risk management - including health and safety – is set out in guidance documents produced both by industry and statutory organisations. The common elements of the management cycle – ‘plan, do, check, act’ underpin health and safety management and they are set out below. • PLAN – develop a policy, decide on levels of performance required and

resources needed• DO – organise the identification and assessment of risks, develop

control measures and competence• CHECK – monitor the work activities, manage the control measures and

carry out checks and investigations.• ACT – review performance against standards and take corrective action

planning work involving contractorsThe contract manager will need to:

• define the work to be carried out and agree on the scope

• review both their own and the contractor’s risk assessments for their work activities in the light of the proposed work activity to be undertaken by a contractor review the method statement for the work to be carried out

The risk assessments produced by the contract manager and the contractor have to take into account the risks to all persons arising from work activity and must be suitable and sufficient.

This means that the assessment should:

• identify hazards – in particular, health and safety issues known to the contract manager

• identify and evaluate significant risks to persons arising from the work. It is unnecessary and unhelpful to include trivial risks and the assessment should focus on significant risks only

• involve the contractor for specialist work activities in order to make a meaningful (a suitable and sufficient) risk assessment

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES • identify and prioritize measures needed to control risk and comply with

legislation be appropriate to the type of work and allow the person completing the assessment to ensure that it remains valid for a reasonable period of time

The contractor will need to produce a risk assessment. The contractor should also be asked to produce a method statement, detailing how the work should be done and how the risks from their work activity are to be controlled. The contractor will also need to be asked if sub-contractors are to be used and if so, they will need to address risks from the use of any sub-contractors in the risk assessment.

Clients should also ensure that a contractor has effective procedures for assessing the competence of any sub-contractors which they may employ. as part of the planning process, a risk assessment for the work to be carried out by the contractor should be requested by the contract manager. There is a need to integrate these assessments to achieve the effective and timely introduction of effective control measures.

Reference should be made to the process flowchart. There is a need to reach agreement on a suitable overall risk assessment and method statement well before any work is started. This process will usually involve site visits, meetings and an evaluation of documents provided by the contractor by a competent person employed by the client.

Site-specific risk assessments will be needed for the work. Generic assessments which are produced as a template for use across a business will need to be modified accordingly. The contract manager will, therefore, need to ensure that they receive a site-specific risk assessment from the contractor. If they receive a generic risk assessment in response to their request for a site specific risk assessment, it is recommended that they return it to the contractor for revision. A simple example is the use of a contractor to change the lamps in an office. The contractor may have produced a generic risk assessment for the activity in an office-based environment, but may have not taken into account the need for a specific risk assessment for changing lamps above a stairwell, which may alter the risk associated with the activity and which may need additional control measures – for example, specialized access equipment because of considerations of work at height.

Management of the h&S performance of contractors

Before engaging a contractor, the contract manager will need to be satisfied both about the competence of the contractor to carry out the work safely and their own competence - that is knowledge and experience - to reach a sound judgement about the competence of a contractor. arrangements will need to be put in place with the main contractor for the assessment and management of any sub-contractors and the principles set out in this guidance may be used.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESCompetence

It may be defined as the possession of sufficient knowledge of, training in and experience of the type of work being planned.

Information to help prove competence includes:

• Awareness on health and safety policy statement

• Suitable and sufficient risk assessments – that is, the significant hazards and risks have been identified and evaluated and suitable control measures put in place.

• Method statements for any previous similar work

• Successful experience in similar work

• Trained members of staff and evidence of training, including for new members of staff

• Provision of suitable equipment

• Sufficient numbers of staff to carry out the work safely

• How the work will be supervised and how activities and risks will be reviewed

• How subcontractors, if any, will be selected and supervised

• Past health and safety performance – for example, by references from past clients, the accident record and to the Health and Safety executive database for prosecutions and enforcement notices under the heading ‘enforcing health & safety’

• Independent assessment of competence – for example, by professional bodies as part of a membership or as part of a statutory authority regime for work with asbestos.

Safe operating procedures

Health and safety procedures associated with the work to be carried out should be identified and included in the contractor’s specification. These may arise from the following for example:

a. work in confined spaces

b. electrical and gas safety

c. use of hazardous substances

d. work at height

e. work with asbestos

f. solitary working and ‘out of hours’ working

g. noise at work

h. use of work equipment

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES i. manual handling

j. emergencies – fire, explosion and flood, etc.

risk assessment

The contract manager will need to refer to the company hazard and risk register and will need to provide relevant information to the contractor by means of the general risk assessments prepared by the contract manager, which will identify the types of work involved and the hazards and risks arising from them.

For work of a specialised nature – for example, work in confined spaces or work with asbestos, the contract manager will need to be satisfied that they have the competence to ensure that they can make a qualitative judgement about any risk assessments produced and that the risk assessments produced by the contractor are both suitable and sufficient and have considered the requirements of current legislation, approved codes of practice and guidance. If in doubt, the contract manager should seek further specialist advice from the appropriate professional bodies.

Where a risk assessment has shown that work is of a potentially high-risk nature, for example:

• Work at height

• Work in a confined space

• Access to a roof area which may have an unprotected open edge or where there is a risk of falls from height

• ‘Hot’ work (work involving the use of a flame or process which generates heat and sparks, giving rise to the ignition of materials)

a permit to work system may need to be operated by the person in control of the work and particular attention paid to specialist control measures. The contract manager should arrange to send copies of:

• The company health and safety policy

• Risk assessments related to the planned work, or any details of the planned work environment

• Relevant company health and safety procedures

• Emergency procedures to contractors tendering for the work

from these, the contractor will then be able to:

• Identify the hazards associated with the work from the risk assessments, any method statements and discussions assess the risks identify the appropriate control measures and draw up a method statement

• Plan of work or a safe system of work. It is essential to consider arranging a site meeting to discuss any matters arising from the tender.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESThe contract manager should also establish if the company maintains a list of

approved contractors which have satisfied pre-tender requirements for particular types of work and where appropriate, reference should be made to it.

The contract manager should ensure that health and safety information is exchanged between contractors who may be working on site at the same time. This may be done at, for example, pre-contract meetings, site meetings and briefings at the principal office. In the case of contractors who are self-employed or who may only have one member of the staff and of individuals who work on a contract for the company for the majority of their time, it is recommended that the contract manager in charge of the work activity include them in the company’s organization and arrangements for the management of health and safety as if they were their own employees.

Management of contractors working on site – procedures:

a site contact for the contractor should be agreed. Before work begins, the contract manager should ensure that the contractor has in place the following:

MeetInGS – agreed frequency of regular meetings with the site contact to review the efficacy of the control measures, to monitor implementation and to review the need for change. The frequency of these meetings will depend on the nature and size of the contract work and the risks involved. In the event that the control measure is found to be insufficient, then the activity should cease until a review has taken place and effective revised arrangements have been put in place.

heaLth anD SaFetY InForMatIon – exchanged health and safety information with any other contractors on site and has agreed on frequency of meetings. This should have been carried out at an earlier stage to enable the production of a suitable risk assessment and method statement.

CoMpanY ruLeS – received a copy of any rules produced by the company for contractors.

perMIt to WorK – agreed to follow the permit to work system for a work activity which has been shown by risk assessment to carry a potentially high risk to the health and safety of persons.

The client will need to consider how the permit to work system is managed, who has control of it, how they are trained and how its efficacy will be monitored. Where the contract manager does not have the necessary competence, they will need to be satisfied by the specialist contractor that the criteria have been met to adequately manage risk from the work activities and they may wish to take. The contract manager will need to ensure that the reporting procedures are in place. Reporting procedures will need to be addressed at the induction briefing before contractors start work on the site.

Work activity should cease for the duration of any investigation of an accident or incident.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES The contract manager should monitor changes in work activities which are

not included in original risk assessments – for example, unforeseen work, unexpected departures from plans and unexpected hazards and risks. additional risk assessments reflecting the changes may be necessary and will need to be discussed with the contractor so that the method statement may be amended. The contract manager will also need to ensure that the contractor’s employees are aware of the agreed risk assessments control measures and method statements, including any amendments.

Monitoring of contractors’ performanceThe contractor has a duty to monitor their health and safety performance and the client also has a duty to do so. The health and safety performance of contractors may be monitored in the following ways:

MethoD StateMent anD WorK – against the method statement or plan of work produced by the contractor, the contract manager can ensure that the systems of work specified by the contractor are being followed – for example, the use of personal protective equipment.

WorKInG praCtICeS – by ensuring that the contractor is carrying out safe working practices – for example, using suitable equipment when working at height, by using personal protective equipment where specified, by maintaining good housekeeping standards and by informing the contract manager of issues which may arise and involve the contract manager or their staff.

InSpeCtIonS – a system of inspection should be agreed with the contractor for them to carry out and monitor their performance. Their frequency and depth may depend on the nature of the contract and the hazards and risks arising from the work activity and should cover the entire work period. Types of inspection include formal observation, unannounced spot checks and the use of prepared checklists. for higher risk work activity, the contract manager may need to obtain advice from third party or consultant.

perForManCe – by comparing the contractor’s performance against existing company standards agreed before the start of work. The contract manager may also make use of the contractor’s own internal monitoring systems - if they are present and effective - in order to check how the contractor monitors its own activities.

aCCIDentS – by monitoring of accidents involving contractors and others. Joint investigation of accidents will often yield useful information and has the benefit of combining the knowledge and experience of the contract manager and the contractor. There may also be a statutory investigation by the relevant enforcing authority.

The contract manager may also take into account reports from members of other staff or members of the the public who may notice unsafe working practices by

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACEScontractors – for example, unsafe practices when working at height on a roof

area with an open unprotected edge.

The contract manager should take up any problem identified with the contractors’ supervisor or manager in order to resolve it. a record (site safety log) of health and safety related problems should be raised and kept by the contract manager. a record of monitoring activity should also be raised and kept, with part of the agenda for joint meetings to be given over to monitoring.

When monitoring health and safety performance, the contract manager should avoid taking responsibility for the supervision of the contract work from the contractor. The contract manager could become accountable in law if they assume responsibility for the supervision or direction of contract work. The responsibility of the contract manager extends to the selection and appointment of a competent person to carry out the planned work. It is not for the contract manager to stipulate how work by the competent person should be done – for example, by specifying a particular way that the competent person should carry out a task - once the project has been handed over and begun. It is the responsibility of the competent person to ensure that the work is carried out safely following a risk assessment and according to their plan of work which should incorporate safe systems of work.

The contract manager will need to bring to the attention of the competent person any obviously unsafe working practice – for example, a member of the competent person’s staff working on a window ledge at height without any obvious means of minimising the risk of falling and subsequent injury or death.

In the case of specialist contractors engaged in higher risk work activity, both the contractor and the contract the manager may need to seek further advice on acceptable and safe working practices from the relevant professional body or trade association. The contract manager has the option of asking the contractor to:

Stop work and to take up the matter with the senior management of the contractor and the organization employing them to resolve it.

ask them to leave the site pending further investigation.

reviewing health and safety performance of contractors:

The contract manager should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the process for the management of health and safety throughout the contract at suitable intervals and at its end. evaluation of the process will allow improvements in the management of health and safety to be made and will help the contract manager to decide if the contractor may continue to work or may be used again. It may be appropriate to review their performance on a regular basis – for example, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, depending on the length of the contract and the risk profile of the work involved and their perceived performance.

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES It is essential that the contract manager acts decisively if they detect poor

performance. The following stages should be considered:

• contract planning

• selection of the contractor- the contract works itself management of the contract by the contract staff, including sub-contractors

• the effectiveness of the liaison arrangements

• records of reviews and their findings

• awareness, education and training

as discussed in previous paragraphs, Contractor Safety management system is in the early stage of implementation except by some big organisations including construction companies. The major problem is with contractors with limited resources/knowledge on a safety who perform some of the jobs in an organisation.

Contractors are engaged in a company for generally following category of jobs:

• In regular production activities as helping hand

• Regular activity but not related to production like house- keeping, gardening, canteen etc.

• Maintenance activities during shut down of the plant

• Jobs related to civil function like road repair, roof repair etc.

• Maintenance of critical equipment

• Preventive maintenance of equipment, electrical installation, instrumentation system etc.

all these require a different type of precaution based on risk assessment of that particular job. education/training has a vital role in this regard.

The biggest worry for emerging economies is a huge working population with low literacy rates and an abysmal awareness of occupational health hazards. To compound, this problem is an attitude of acceptance of injuries and accidents as a part of life. This can be even seen on an everyday basis when people recklessly cross busy roads paying scant respect to traffic rules. There is also short a term focus on earning the daily bread which takes precedence over a safe work environment

The need of the hour is to spread the awareness of occupational hazards to the large work population. They need to be sensitised to the long-term detrimental effects of the environment that they work in and what precautions can be taken to mitigate these effects.

But things cannot only stop at creating awareness. It has to be followed up with training. As mentioned earlier, training should be specific for a particular

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACESjob based on the risk assessment. People also need to be sensitized to the

importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as a means of the first line of defence.

Here is a check list for further assistance:

Sl. no. activity Yes no n/a

If no, actions required

Date

a. organization management practices

1. Has a contractor management policy been established?

2. Has a contractor management procedure been established?

3. Is a representative nominated to manage organization and contractor risks?

4. are all contractor policies and procedures properly communicated to personnel?

5. are procedures routinely tested for performance and results issued to management?

6. are personnel regularly updated on changes in contractor policies or procedures?

B. risk management

1. Are risks by contractors identified, assessed, ranked and prioritized in order of risk level?

2. are risk controls tested for performance and adequacy?

3. Is a contractor risk register established to summarize identified risks to the organization?

4. are risk assessments issued by the contractor prior to the commencement of work?

5. are contractor risk controls supported with relevant SHe policies and procedures?

C. Contractor assessment and verification

1. does the contractor have a SHe management system?

2. are records issued to demonstrate the active operation of their SHe management system?

3.

Is a project manager nominated and SHe management plan prepared by the principal contractor where the cost of works meet or exceed your state or territory’s SHe regulation requirements?

4.do contractor SHe management plans detail what systems and procedures will apply during the term of works?

5.are work licenses and permits and insurance certificates of currency presented for adequacy and approval?

22

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES Sl.

no. activity Yes no n/aIf no,

actions required

Date

D. Induction and training

1.Is adequate induction and training provided to contractors and stakeholders who are undertaking works?

2.does the nominated representative in your organization induct contractors in your policies, procedures, and rules?

3. are stakeholders updated if a change is made to organization policies or procedures?

4. does your contractor provide induction and training to their employees and sub-contractors?

5. Is a copy of the contractor induction register issued to the organization for verification?

6. does the register indicate details of each employee’s SHe training competency?

e. Monitoring

1. are random or regular SHe inspections undertaken to monitor compliance and performance?

2. Is supervision undertaken to monitor contractor conformance to SHe practices?

3. Is there a procedure to report hazards or breaches?

4. are reported SHe breaches highlighted to remind users of their obligations?

5. are breaches reviewed and corrected to avoid repeat offenses?

6. do the organization and contractor report back to one another on performance results?

7. Are corrective actions checked and verified for SHE compliance?

8. Is a procedure established for incident notification?

F. Completion of work

1. are surrounding area and grounds checked and left in a safe condition?

2. are wastes generated during the job cleaned and stored in recommended places?

3. are safe work and operating procedures provided for new equipment?

4. are new rules, policy, and procedures required for new building and equipment?

5. are contractor project records and reports kept in accordance with state or territory SHe requirements?

6. Is the performance of contractor with respect to SHe evaluated after completion of job and rated?

23

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES

Community

• Social Payouts• Investigation

/ Inspection costs

• WSH Promotion• Loss of human• Capital• Medical subsidy

Workers

• Net Loss of future earnings (i.e. future earnings minus compensation)

• Medical cost• Rehabilitation

Cost

employers

• Staff turnover costs

• Training cost• Loss of output• Insurance

premium• Legal cost

Total economic cost of work injuries and

ill health

Cost items borne by employers, workers, and the community

ConclusionContractors Safety management System (CSmS) in India is in early stages of implementation. The survey indicated that while some of the companies are well ahead of the others, the activities initiated in other companies. The role of leadership is very vital in implementing the system. CSmS should not be taken as a bottleneck in executing a job. On the contrary, proper pre-planning, selecting a right contractor for the right job and a sound CSmS will help the companies. The role of leadership is very vital in areas of compromising factors as mentioned below:

It is to be kept in mind that any accident/incident will result in a loss. The economic cost is presented by a simple chart.

24

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONTRACTOR INDUCED RISK AT WORKPLACES CSmS system is based on 7 steps as discussed earlier. The major step in CSmS

is the proper risk assessment and identification of proper contractor. In some cases, an independent consultant is engaged for this purpose. Suggested best practices and common challenges are :

Best practices:

1. Use of third-party for pre-qualifying companies

2. assessment of contractor safety statistics

3. Internal scale or checklist to assign grades to contractors during pre qualification

4. risk rating for work to be performed by contractor

5. Placing general contractors in charge of subcontractor safety and holding them to owner standards

6. Verification of contractor certifications and permits; on-site safety orientations

7. Periodic, scheduled assessments during contract term

Common Challenges:

1. lack of formalized structure for disciplinary action

2. No integration of contractor lagging metrics into owner’s safety statistics

3. lack of formalized post-work evaluation process

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The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.

CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India’s development process. founded in 1895, India’s premier business association has over 8,300 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including Smes and mNCs, and an indirect membership of over 200,000 enterprises from around 250 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.

CII charts change by working closely with government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic global linkages. It also provides a platform for consensus-building and networking on key issues.

extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development across diverse domains including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few.

The CII theme for 2017-18, India Together: Inclusive. Ahead. Responsible emphasizes Industry’s role in partnering government to accelerate India’s growth and development. The focus will be on key enablers such as job creation; skill development and training; affirmative action; women parity; new models of development; sustainability; corporate social responsibility, governance and transparency.

With 67 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 10 overseas offices in Australia, Bahrain, China, egypt, france, germany, Singapore, South africa, UK, and USa, as well as institutional partnerships with 344 counterpart organizations in 129 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.

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