Posted By AJM One of my hardest jobs has been to control contractors. Since being in my present company I have introduced a control of contractors policy and permit to work system and things have improved. BUT with regard to full control IE risk assessments and method statements produced before work starts and management buying into the system its been very difficult to go that extra mile. Firstly is it just me or is control of contractors a problem everywhere and is their any best practice that can be found. Secondly is it reasonable for me to demand a risk assessment for every single task no matter how small a contractor on your site does. And what hurdles have all of you come up against with regard to not allowing a job to be done till a risk assessment or method statement has been done. Sorry I have to get despondant now and again, it comes with the job. Alan

Posted By Sean Fraser Interesting question, Alan, and I see it coming down to this - just how much "control" do you need if you aren't the one doing the work. You need to consider how you assess risk in your own workplace and then assign this to your contractors. Every task does not require a FORMAL risk assessment, especially for lower risk activities, but you want to be assured that the people doing the job are competent and professional enough to be making informal risk assessments and applying good safety practice - pre-planning, correct provision of equipment and skills, consideration for others and no nonesense approach to carrying out the required tasks. If they can do that to your satisfaction, there is little probability of ending up in the witness box explaining why a bunch of chancers were allowed to carry out dodgy work unscreened and unsupervised. Do not get hung up about the word "control" - the level of control needs to be appropriate and the more hazardous the task, the more effort is required, but one size will not fit all. Control may be just making sure they know what task is required, who they are reporting to and when, and what to do in an emergency. Or it may be "no planning, no access". The choice is yours based on what you feel is appropriate. HSE guidance on co-operation with sub-contractors is available: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg368.pdf Note that anything said above is NOT applicable when dealing with CDM regs.

Posted By Jeffrey Watt AJM We just got the balance right and then we were made redundant.... So i am starting the process afresh and facing the old dilemmas you face. My advice...talk to the contractor..have a joke.. be human....leave them not wanting to disappoint you. To get there you need to induct every single man before he is allowed on site. This allows you to build a personal relationship, even if it only lasts a day and they know who you are and know you are a reasonable person not a rule quoter (unless of course you are an unreasonable rule quoter in which case ignore my advice) Second, as far as possible use the permit as the risk assessment, and have a small number of permit issuers who you trust and are safety competent and check the work of the ones you don't trust until they cave in to your iron will. Usual craic have seperate permits for high risk stuff like confined spaces, hotwork and work at height that require your co signature to validate them. And on the 3rd day you can try creating the beasts of the field, then man, then woman. Best of luck Jeff