We have a long standing small group of contractors who have been working along side us on our site for many many years. They support our maintenance department within our manufacturing business. We have a strong PTW, Risk assessment and Method statement structure in place etc. We have maintenance workshop on site where from time to time these close contractors will often use. They have joined our maintenance team on training for abrasive wheels, we have given them access to our FLT's ( complete with familiarisation training). These guys are fully skilled in their work and are knowledgeable in our plant maintenance activities. All are inducted also and we carry out regular contractor assessments too. My question arises from feedback from some of our employees who have recently attended an IOSH Working Safely training course of which they felt the message given to them is that we should not allow contractors to use any of our maintenance equipment or workshop in case they injury themselves and then we the company are liable. There were also some other less positive feedback which i will be taking up separately, as we feel that where we are constantly striving to maintain a positive and effective H&S culture, recent training seems to have deflated and made a mockery of H&S of what we have been trying to build. Your feedback and thoughts much appreciated.....

If they are working that closely with you then having them bring their own equipment would hardly save you from liability! I'm sure the reasoning behind the suggestion of not allowing contractors to use your equipment is that they won't have been trained on it. As that doesn't apply in this case then neither does the suggestion.

I must admit to some degree of hesitance in responding to one with a soubriquet such as yours! I'll keep my thoughts on the IOSH Working Safely to myself for now and only suggest that the situation you describe tends to highlight the importance of ensuring that the training adequately "fits" the organisation's requirements and general undertaking. Training that undermines the culture is worse than useless, and one can only hope that equal resource will be put in to correcting these "messages" already delivered.

Thank you all for your replies. Am on the same page that as we work closely with our contractors and our 'boundaries' are clearly defined, that we are working safely and have assessed any potential risks to a level that we are all happy with that supports our working relationship practically and professionally. Thank you once again.