Managing contractors on charity premises involves legal duties related to health and safety. Ensuring that contractors fully understand safety and security procedures can protect the organisation, staff and volunteers.
Anyone engaging contractors has health and safety responsibilities, both for the contractors and anyone else that could be affected by their activities (Photo: Graham Burton via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
A contractor induction sets out your organisation's commitment to health and safety and your expections that the contractor will contribute to good health and safety on site.
Contractor induction materials can be in the form of a simple printed sheet, a presentation, on line or offline or a video.
Ideally, a member of your organisation’s staff should talk through the induction with the contractor. At the end of this, it is usual to ask them to sign and date a document to say they have read and understood the rules. Be aware that not all contractors and sub-contractors can read English.
You should also provide site inductions to those who aren't regularly working on site but who visit it on an occasional basis. The inductions should be proportionate. If your visitors are being escorted around the site, they only need to be made aware of the main hazards and control measures.
This page sets out some of the items that you should to cover in your contractor induction. Links to examples of contractor induction documents are at the bottom of this page.
Contractor induction - key points to cover:
About the site
- key information about the size and layout of the site
- location and/or addresses of important buildings
- a map of the site
- location of toilets
- location of first aid
Emergency contacts
- FM contact telephone numbers
- backup telephone numbers, including out-of-hours services
- general switchboard number
- nearest hospital A&E department
Access information
- where should they arrive on site
- what are the site operating hours
- what are the out-of-hours arrangements
- where should delivery vans unload
- parking information
Fire safety
- information on fire alarm tests
- fire alarm instructions
- fire marshal information
- location of assembly points
- basic fire safety instructions
Site Security
- contact details for security team on site
- location of security desk
- discussion of responsibility for contractors’ tools and materials
- instructions regarding presentation and visibility of ID cards
- instructions about ensuring the site is secure
- warning against giving access to unidentified individuals
- procedures for getting doors opened for deliveries or works
Sub-contractors
- procedures for bringing sub-contractors on site
Accident emergency procedures
- your organisational requirements
Site safety
- a clear statement of your commitment to operating a safe site
- general guidelines on site safety - see the note below
Works guidelines
Detailed requirements relating to permits to work, risk assessments and managing site safety should form part of the formal contract which you have agreed with contractors. These requirements are outside the scope of these general guidelines.
Examples
HSE Health and Safety Induction for Smaller Construction Companies (pdf file)
Unversity of Northumbria: Contractors Health & Safety Induction Booklet (pdf file)