Developing an Effective Contractor Safety Template

What is a Contractor Safety Program?

A contractor safety program describes the policies, procedures, and training that contractors are expected to follow when working for an employer. There are many scenarios under which an employer may want or need to hire independent contractors, consultants, or other workers to help them. For example, an attorney opening a new office in a different city may need to recruit a management consultant, while a technological firm looking to expand its office space may need the services of a contractor with experience in building expansion. In short, a contractor could be an employee in any field, as long as the company feels that their services would be valuable.
When a business retains the services of a contractor, they must ensure that the contractor has the appropriate skills, talents, financial resources, and reputation to complete the job. One area that is critical to any contractor’s job performance is worker health and safety. Depending on the contractor’s specific field, the services that they provide to the company may rely on very specific safety considerations. For example, a company hiring an electrical engineer to work on expanding an office space will want to evaluate the engineer’s education and training , while the company retaining the services of a construction contractor will want to look at the same things. The contractor selection process, therefore, is an important part of any business’s safety programs, as it is critical to ensure that contractors are capable of adhering to the company’s policies and procedures.
Contractor safety programs must be strictly enforced for any employer who hires contractor services. Depending on the types of services that the contractor will be providing, the company may also want to include their own safety inspections, as these can help to ensure that the contractor is performing their job in a safe and responsible manner. When the company does not enforce contractor safety programs, they can face significant liability in the event of a workplace accident or injury. If a contractor for a restaurant slips and falls on a wet surface caused by a leaking soda fountain, the injured contractor may have every reason to bring a lawsuit against the company, especially if they can show that the wet surface resulting from the leak was known to the business but left in disrepair. As the legal liability often rests on the employer, the breach of their duty of care for independent contractors is a very serious issue, making contractor safety programs and policies essential components of every business’s safety strategy.

Components You Should Have in a Contractor Safety Program Template

At its most basic level, a contractor safety program template should contain the following components:
Safety Policies
Every contractor safety program template must include safety policies that disqualify companies or individuals who cannot meet those policies. For example, if you require no more than one prior OSHA citation per year, your contractor safety program must say that no one with more than one citation in the prior 365 days will be allowed to work on your job sites.
Risk Assessments
A good contractor safety program template requires risk assessments for every risky job. It is not enough to say that you require your contractors to conduct a risk assessment. The template must explain what a risk assessment entails, and requires.
Training
A contractor safety program template must be equally well-defined for training requirements. What kind of training? How many hours? When does a person have to show mastery? Which jobs require training?
Emergency Procedures
A contractor safety program template must also require emergency procedures. This means how fire alarms are sounded, where the exits are, who supervises account for everyone after an evacuation, how any risks are contained, and which safety officers are responsible for communicating with regulatory agencies.

Why You Should Use a Safety Program Template

The process of developing safety programs for your contractors can be labor intensive, and can require extensive research. If your organization finds itself in this position, it could benefit from utilizing a safety program template. A good template will be specific to your type of business, and will cover only areas relevant to your organization. It will help you organize any and all safety risks specific to the work being done at each location, and it will allow you to do so consistently across the board for each location and each contractor. Once the safety program is created and implemented, it may be less intensive to alter or adjust the safety programs going forward, rather than starting from scratch as the need arises. A well-organized approach to contractor safety will also allow you to better meet deadlines with respect to meetings and reporting requirements which, in turn, can help you avoid compliance issues with safety regulations.

Steps to Designing a Safety Program Template

A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing a Template for Your Contractor Safety Program
This is where you will get into the template itself and its associated guidelines.

1. Identify Hazards Within Your Industry

Through your own research, or using the services of a safety and health consultant, identify the hazards that are most commonly found within your specific industry. These should be ranked in terms of priority to assist your contractors in addressing these issues. Depending on the size of your business and the volume of contractors you engage with, you could even prioritise hazards on a project basis, however this may become cumbersome if it is a low-priority hazard.

2. Develop Guidance and Procedures Associated with Those Hazards

With these hazards in mind, you should then list guidance and policy accordingly. It is here that you can also state what precautions, procedures, controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) are or are not required by your specific company, and which should be adhered to explicitly by all contractors.

3. Review and Revise Your Template as Necessary

Throughout its use, if you find that your contractor safety program template is missing certain information which would be beneficial to either your business or to your contractors, or you feel that certain details could be omitted for brevity, revise your template accordingly after careful consideration.

4. Make the Template Available for Download Via Your Business Website

Make sure that your template is widely available to contractors who would benefit from it by adding it to your business website for download, be that for a small price or free of charge.

Challenges to Anticipate and Solutions

Common Challenges and Solutions to Creating a Contractor Safety Program Template
While the benefits of implementing a contractor safety program template are clear, businesses must also contend with the challenges that can arise. Understanding these challenges, both as they relate to your organization and its contractors, is key to reaching a mutually beneficial outcome.
A Lack of Clear Requirements
Depending their size and industry, many businesses may have specific requirements that govern their interactions with contractors. However, in some cases, businesses do not have strict requirements. Particularly for those operating within the same industry, establishing a written safety program template that is specific to their field can be burdensome. As a result, a lack of clear requirements can make it difficult to develop a safety program that effectively addresses the needs of the organization.
An Example of this in Practice
A residential contractor, for instance, may find that organizations in the nonresidential space have different training, procedures, and safety measures in place. They may not use the same equipment, so having the same program for both would be administratively burdensome. A business that has multiple types of contractors may also realize that using a single safety program template makes sense for contractors that perform similar work, but that other contractors would require a different approach than others .
In some cases, an organization’s contractors may even have their own requirements that differ from the requirements imposed by the organization itself. This can lead to complications down the road if, for instance, there is an issue with a particular contractor. If you implement a safety program template that is stricter than what the contractor requires, the contractor may feel justified in taking legal action.
Solutions for Clarification
An organization may decide to return to the drawing board until it has established a clear set of requirements for its contractors. At the same time, an organization may refrain from developing a template until the contractor has provided its input. Depending on their level of experience, the contractor itself may also have a good sense of what an effective safety program template entails. This can be the very reason why an organization chooses to work with a particular contractor—in their commitment, as well as their knowledge of the industry.
A lack of clear requirements can also benefit from an attorney experienced in contractor agreements. Not only can a qualified attorney help your organization determine the requirements that matter to your contractors and their work, but they can also provide a guide to help you meet these requirements as you client’s business evolves over time.

Legal and Compliance Issues to Consider

Navigating the legal landscape surrounding workplace safety is essential for both employers and independent contractors. With numerous federal, state, and local regulations, it is imperative to ensure that all safety tasks and processes align with the law. A well-constructed contractor safety program template can assist in identifying and meeting these legal requirements, ultimately reinforcing a contractor’s commitment to safe work practices.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health ("OSH") Act of 1970 requires employers to provide their employees with an environment free from hazardous conditions. While many assume that the Act only applies to the employer-employee relationship, the law also applies to independent contractors at the workplace. Contractors have the same responsibilities as employees in maintaining a safe work environment. A strong contractor safety program template would, in most cases, cover the legal requirements under the OSH Act and any additional local and/or state requirements. For instance, some states, such as Vermont and Kentucky, require contractors to become certified by the State which includes providing documentation of their safety training and safety program.
In addition to the OSH Act, many other regulations and laws address contractor safety. For example, federal contractors are required to comply with the Debarment and Suspension Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR"). The Safeguarding of Unclassified Controlled Technical Information ("Controlled Unclassified Information") regulation requires organizations to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access. Similarly, false certifications pursuant to the False Claims Act can result in treble damages against contractors who falsely certify that they comply with federal regulations and laws.
Of course, adhering to these regulations is not enough; non-compliance can have drastic implications for a contractor’s business including the potential loss of the contract. Although not required by law, a substantial number of contracts include a clause requiring a contractor to adhere to specific safety standards. Non-compliance with this provision can lead to the loss of the contract. A non-compliance with a safety standard could also be considered a breach of contract.
A contractor in violation of the OSH Act may be subject to severe penalties. A subsequent violation, for instance, can result in combined civil penalties of up to $700,000.00 for all employers. In the event of an injury or death, the Occupational Safety Health Administration may investigate and impose fines up to $129,336.00. Ultimately, the responsibility to meet these legal obligations rests with the contractor.

How to Continually Improve

The ultimate goal of implementing a contractor safety program is to increase safety within the organization and with contractors to protect employees, visitors, and assets. Just one serious injury or fatality can quickly wipe out all the company’s profits for the year, even if it is not actually responsible for the cause of the injury or accident. If your company’s safety program isn’t working, or is not the right fit for your organization, it may need revisions. When a company sees a pattern of recurring injuries or a sudden spike in the incidence of injuries despite having an existing contractor safety program, it should consider revisiting and revising its contractor safety program template. Revisions to any safety program should consider:
It is also important to understand that any new contractor safety program or contractor safety program template must include a process to regularly evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Regular review of the safety program after implementation is vital to ensure that it remains effective over time, continues to promote safety, and is adaptable to change. The best way to regularly evaluate a program’s effectiveness is through periodic risk assessments and analysis of program data trends:
The frequency at which to conduct a risk assessment is subjective . Considerations for the frequency of assessments include but are not limited to: size of the entity, number of employees, number of contractors utilized, past incident history, and whether there has there been any modifications to site activities, processes, audit requirements, or relevant local laws and regulations. Documenting the programs annual goals and metrics (i.e., lost time incidents, environmental injuries, property damage, near misses, etc.) can also serve as a guide for assessing performance and measuring progress.
In addition to regular risk assessments, periodic meetings with contractors to discuss the program and its effectiveness should be conducted. The contractor’s actual performance relative to your contractor rating program should also be regularly evaluated and discussed. Entire sections of the program should be revised if the company finds that contractors consistently have difficulty adhering to certain sections or requirements of the program. Finally, the program should incorporate a mechanism to review and revise existing policies, procedures, standards, trainings and audits as changes occur so that out-of-date requirements are not included in the contractor handbook.