Addressing sub-contractor risks

Perspectives from influential health and safety professionals

We recently hosted a dynamic virtual roundtable on “Managing Sub-Contractor Risk,” featuring top industry leaders from various sectors. These sessions bring together professionals from different industries and roles to share valuable insights and best practices for navigating the challenges and opportunities in supply chain management.

SafeContractor ensures your entire supply chain stays visible and compliant with your standards and industry regulations. Our in-house auditors thoroughly assess each contractor and supplier, covering crucial areas like health and safety, modern slavery, ESG, and more.

Here are some of the key highlights from the event:

Building Safety Act implementation

The Building Safety Act was a central topic of discussion. A leader from a global health and safety construction consultancy emphasised the importance of this legislation and its potential impact on supply chains. The Act aims to raise competency standards across the industry, affecting pre-qualification processes and project delivery.

Supply chain challenges

A senior health and safety manager from a major infrastructure project recently shed light on a pressing issue: the strain on supply chains, especially in the UK. With a shortage of skilled workers, companies are having to broaden their hiring criteria. This means bringing on board people who might not have been considered for large-scale projects before—such as those with less experience, those coming from different industries, or individuals without the usual qualifications for complex roles.

While this strategy helps fill immediate workforce gaps, it also brings new challenges. Companies now face the task of providing extensive training and upskilling to ensure these new hires meet the high standards required for major projects. Balancing the immediate need for workers with the long-term goal of maintaining quality is proving to be a tough but necessary task.

Changing legislation

Anthony Hanley, SVP Supply Chain Compliance, Alcumus SafeContractor highlighted the difficulties of keeping up with changing legislation in vetting processes. The worry is that overly complicated questionnaires could result in low response rates and inaccurate compliance assessments. To address this, the expert emphasised the need for greater industry collaboration to create more balanced and effective prequalification processes.

Subcontractor management

The roundtable tackled the challenges of managing Tier 2, 3, and 4 subcontractors, exploring strategies to ensure they meet project standards. Participants emphasised the importance of clear contractual requirements, direct face-to-face communication, and strong cascading assurance processes. By homing in on these areas, the discussion showcased how effective subcontractor management can boost compliance, quality, and overall project success, even across the many layers of the supply chain.

Risk mitigation strategies

The Senior Health, Safety, and Security Manager at a large infrastructure organisation highlighted the difficulties of tracking data when it’s spread across multiple spreadsheets managed by different people. He stressed the need for a more centralised or integrated system to streamline contractor data and improve management processes.

Looking ahead

The discussions highlighted the ongoing challenges that Health and Safety professionals face across different industries, especially with new regulations and workforce shortages. There’s a growing need for innovative solutions that can ensure compliance across multiple tiers of subcontracting while still being practical for smaller operators.

The roundtable emphasised the importance of balancing strict safety standards with the diverse practices found across the industry. Participants agreed that tailored approaches are crucial to help both large corporations and smaller, specialised contractors meet these safety requirements effectively.

It was evident from our discussion that each participant is at a different point on their journey of sub-contractor risk management, “I think, it’s a continuous journey of improvement. But if you start with the basics—get your baseline data and establish fundamental processes—it becomes easier to manage even in challenging geographic locations or complex supply chains. Sometimes, tapping into an external network can provide the resilience and access you need for effective sourcing.” – Anthony Hanley, SVP Supply Chain Compliance, Alcumus SafeContractor.