Best Practices for Enforcing Policies with Contractors

Organizations that hire and employ contractors and suppliers look for professional and responsible people who can do the work. They expect that their contractors will follow safety policies and procedures to ensure that safety incidents are avoided.

They rely on their contractors to follow the guidelines, but the truth is many of these companies have no way to verify compliance. And without policy enforcement, these companies risk increased injuries, production failures, penalties for noncompliance, and even lawsuits resulting from employee injury.

Let’s look at a typical job site. Perhaps the contractors are working hard and trying to do what’s right — but the contractor’s idea of what’s right might not be in line with your safety requirements. Or perhaps the contractors are trying to find ways to finish the job faster — even if it means ignoring a few safety policies along the way. We’re not talking gross negligence here.

It could be as simple as a janitor using a strong detergent to clean a floor, but only rinsing the floor once, instead of the three times required for that type of cleanser. If another employee then slips and falls on the slick floor, the hiring company has a safety violation that may stop production, require an investigation, and trigger legal action.

When workers don’t follow safety guidelines, injuries are more likely to become an issue, and without enforcement, incidents will continue to escalate, along with risks to the business.