3 Ways You can Support Contractors in Achieving Compliance
If your organisation engages contractors, you’ll know there is a considerable amount of administration required to get them prequalified and compliant with your required criteria, prior to commencing work. From the contractor’s perspective, they too have their work cut out for them through this process. They need to understand your framework, update and gather all required documentation and then navigate the contractor management platform that your business uses. When it comes to compliance, contractors need to demonstrate it, and you need to exercise the appropriate due diligence, however ultimately, both you and your contractors are responsible. So, to make achieving compliance easier, it makes sense to offer contractors and suppliers support through the process. The question then becomes, how do you do that efficiently, when you have so many other business priorities?
The Challenge of Compliance for Contractors
While contractors may be doing their best to achieve compliance with your requirements, there are many areas they might struggle with. Some of the challenges they face include:
Understanding legislation and insurance cover - as you’ll know as a business leader, the rules and regulations when it comes to compliance aren’t always straightforward. Contactors can easily become confused as to their requirements and exactly what type of documentation and insurances they need to be covered and compliant.
Grasping technology - while your contractors may be highly skilled in their area of expertise, that doesn’t mean that they are au fait with technology. If they are being asked to use online platforms and aren’t given support, it can lead to confusion, delays, and, you guessed it, gaps in compliance.
Multiple clients - chances are you aren’t the only client your contractor works for, and that can lead to confusion. If every client has different requirements and different systems, managing compliance can become increasingly confusing.
Keeping on top of dates - admin isn’t everyone’s strong point, and that goes for your contactors too. If they don’t have the systems in place to alert them as to when their licences, certifications and registrations expire, they may well unwittingly risk non-compliance.
3 Steps You Can Take to Today to Support Your Contractors
If you want to ensure your contractors remain compliant, then it makes sense to support them. After all, compliance should be considered a joint responsibility. Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to support your contractors:
Communicate effectively - when it comes to building relationships with your contractors, communication is vital. By being a good communicator, you can ensure your safety messages are heard, your contractors know who to turn to with queries and that you are both on the same page regarding their compliance status.
Leverage technology - if you manage contractors using multiple excel spreadsheets, you are probably making life harder for both you and your contractors. By using technology in the right way, you can automate processes and deliver timely notifications to your contractors.
Keep it simple - if you use different frameworks for different contractors, you are making things very complicated for everyone involved. By being consistent with how you manage your contractors and keeping processes as simple as possible, you can reduce the amount of admin for everyone involved.
By supporting your contractors, you can create much stronger working relationships. Not only does this improve your project outcomes, but it makes it much more likely that your contractors will respond to your requests and work with you on your safety goals.
How Outsourcing Contractor Management Can Help
While supporting your contractors makes a lot of sense, trying to do it on your own with an in-house system can bring its own challenges. You need the time and resources to support your contractors through the process, and that can take away from other business priorities. Fortunately, this is where outsourcing can make all the difference.
By working with an outsourced contractor management provider, you can, of course, benefit from technology as well as their experience and expertise. The right contractor management system will help streamline communication, automate processes and deliver notifications. However, with a full-service solution, you can take things a step further. With dedicated support, you can ensure there is always someone available to your contractors and that they can guide them through the registration, approval and ongoing compliance process.
By outsourcing contractor management, you can deliver the support your contractors need while taking away the pressure from your business. The result is a better working relationship all around and, most importantly, a safer workplace for everyone concerned.
For over a decade, Conserve has helped organisations overcome contractor management challenges. We can help you develop a contractor management service that will be not only effective but will make your organisation safer, while minimising your overall risk. Request a demo now or visit the Conserve page for more great content.
For more information, call +61 2 8883 1501, visit www.conserve.com.au or email enquiries@conserve.com.au