Posted By Zaphod
I work for an organisation that supports people with learning disabilities in residential care homes and supported living schemes.

If a contractors comes on site, clearly we have to communicate about risks and precautions. I am in no doubt that:

1. We must ask the contractor about risks they may expose our staff and the people we provide support for - e.g. toxic chemicals and sharp tools they may leave lying around.

2. We must tell the contractor about risks we may expose them to and our emergency procedures - e.g. challenging behaviour and fire evacuation procedures.

However, there is a third area of risk communication that I am not so sure about. Should we be asking contractors about risks they may expose themselves to. For example, a contractor has to carry a hot water tank upstairs - if he intends to do this without proper manual handling principles, could we be somehow accontable if he injures his back? If we see a contractor doing something blatently unsafe for him or herself, can we ignore it and regard it as not our problem or would we be liable for not taking action?

Posted By Exdeeps
Hello,
I don't know how large your organisation is so this may not be a practical solution. If these people are coming on site as contractors then presumably some form of contract has been awarded. When putting the contract out to tender, even if requesting a price by telephone, stipulate that a method statement and risk assessment must be provided with the quote. These don't have to be massive documents but they will result in some thought on the contractors part and will put off the fly by night cowboys as well as giving you something to wave at them when they do something daft,
Jim

Posted By Zaphod
Many thanks for the responses so far. The problem is that it is so difficult for the heads of service to find contractors willing to do small jobs. They are frightened of not getting anyone to do the job if they start asking awkward questions. The 'Beggars can't be choosers' outlook.

I think an approved list would be the answer - but this is something my colleagues in the Property Services side of things haven't managed to achieve so far. Most of our care homes are just typical domestic houses that happen to contain a staff team supporting people with learning disabilities - so CDM, method statements and contractors risk assessments in advance of the work - rightly or wrongly are viewed as OTT & unworkable by most of the managers in our organisation. This is despite the fact that we have a very good H&S culture where all care homes have a full set of risk assessments and all the other regalia of H&S management tools. Another factor to bear in mind is that we do not own most of the houses - they are mostly owned by housing associations.