Posted By Stuart Nagle
James.
Firstly, it is my opinion that 'at law' the employer is responsible for all persons they employ on their sites, irrespective of whether they are directly employed or contractors (see regina -v- associated octel). In essence therefore any accident on your site involving direct employees or contractors may have ramifications for your company.
With this in mind, you seek to ameliorate accidents by ensuring that contractors you employ are trained and competent contractors, capable of safely undertaking the works.
In respect of tool or plant use, you may choose to either permit this, or refuse and incur any likely price increase in the tender etc )a posisble reason for considering contractor use of the employers equipment).
If the employer agrees, he has a duty of care to the contractor to ensure that the tools, plant and equipment are tested, calibrated, and maintained as fit for purpose and safe to be used - as he would with his directly employed staff, and further the contractor has a duty to see that the same are used correctly in accordance with the employers direction ect for safe operation.
The employer would not permit his directly employed staff to use the same without training and being experienced/competent in is use, and nor should the employer accept less from the contractor.
In such situations, from experience, it is not unusual for tools, plant and equipment to get damaged, as ownership tends to go hand in hand with care of use, and as the contractors staff will know, the equipment is not theirs, so care taken in use may be less than if it was!!
Accidents on the equipment will be treated as normal, i.e. the employer will be held liable and the contractor also. The degree of liability will vary upon the circumstances, the hazard, risk, training and competence, safe systems of work and supervision ect - as is usually the norm, along with any consequential negligence by the operator accounted for in any court case or civil action that follows!!
If you are to manage the works in this manner, there must be controls in place to ensure only trained and competent users are permited access to and use of the equipment, it is used correctly, there are safe systems of work that are followed, logs to indicate who was using the equipment, the equipment is maintained and suitable levels of supervision given to ensure all the above is actually managed and adhered to.
If you can do all of this, instead of just letting the contractor get on with it, as is often the case, you should be OK, but as they say...accidents happen, so ensure you have the evidence to prove that all was done SFARP to prevent it!!
Stuart