Health & Safety Policy – HST45

Health and Safety Guidance

H&S in Procurement

1 Introduction
Suffolk County Council (SCC) is making major changes in the way the services it is
responsible for are delivered. Many services will no longer be delivered by staff
directly employed by Suffolk County Council but through contract arrangements of
various forms with a wider range of different service providers.

However the county council remains responsible for the quality of services and
ensuring they are provided safely. This may be as a result of legislation relating to the
specific service and/or the more general provisions of the Health and Safety at Work
etc. Act 1974 (HSWA).

Section 3 of HSWA imposes a duty to carry out our undertakings, so that “persons not
in our employment” i.e. our customers, clients, members of the public etc. are not
“exposed to risks to their health and safety “

HSWA provides a legal framework to promote and encourage high standards of

Health & Safety in places of work, we cannot escape this duty by contracting out work
or services. Although it is subject to the phrase “so far as is reasonably practicable”
so there is a degree of balance between the level of risk and cost/resource.

It’s about what does reasonably practicable look like. Section 40 puts the onus on the
‘employer’ to prove that they did everything that was reasonably practicable or that is
wasn’t reasonably practicable to do anything else.

Some of this will be determined by what is the level of the risk (To our staff, clients,
customers etc.).

Some of this will be dependent on whether it is regarded as our undertaking. E.g. the
Health and Safety of staff in a food processing factory isn’t necessarily our
undertaking. Whereas it might be regarded as part of our undertaking to ensure the
quality and hygiene of the food that comes out of the factory if it is used in our schools
and care homes.

Similarly we would have a more direct responsibility for the safety of buses used to
provide transport to school than for the workshop operations to maintain those
vehicles.

But whilst the Health and Safety of the staff in the factory or workshop isn’t our primary
concern from a Health and Safety perspective, we still have a moral obligation to use
reputable suppliers and would want to avoid any bad publicity by association with a
disreputable supplier. This might be regarded more of a general business risk than a
Health and Safety risk necessarily.

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Successfully managing SCC Health and Safety responsibilities for contracted out
services needs to take account of:

a) The wide and diverse range of services involved;

b) The range of different contracts and controls;
c) The diverse range of providers;
d) The varying levels of risk associated with different services; and
e) Varying levels of contract management skills and experience associated with
different services.

SCC has established a Contract Management Board. The Board provides strategic
co-ordination and control of both procurement and contract management across all
services. Among other things, its purpose is to:

 Ensure corporate policy is included proportionately in all activity in the (Strategic

Procurement) Pipeline

 Ensure appropriate and sufficient skill sets exist across the organisation to deliver
effective contract management on all major contracts

 Collate and ensure common practice, processes and learning are applied in each
of the above areas and adherence to the principles of the Good Practice Guide.

Effectively managing Health and Safety in contracted out services should be a thread
running throughout the whole process – from initially considering the options for
delivering the service, through writing a contract and specifying the service and
performance measures, selecting the provider (often through a formal procurement
process) to managing and monitoring the contract on an ongoing basis.

It is very important, although sometimes overlooked, to think at the start of the process
about how the contract will be managed, and not leave this to once it has been
awarded or, worse still, once it has started.

Not all stages will always apply. For example, there may be no procurement process
if services are to be provided (e.g. by a wholly owned company) under the “Teckal”
exemption from EU procurement regulations, although Health and Safety
considerations are still relevant to the provision of those services. Where there is a
procurement, the various procedures available will affect how Health and Safety
matters can be addressed at different stages depending on relevance and
proportionality.

SCC’s policy is to employ only competent contractors to carry out work on our behalf.
We should only let contracts to those who demonstrate an understanding of and
commitment to health and safety, an ability to manage their work, and that of their
sub-contractors, safely and who are technically competent in their field.

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1.1 Who counts as a Contractor?

A contractor is anyone we get in to carry out work for us who is not an employee. This
might include a one-off service procured through a local purchase order such as
getting someone in to repair a faulty appliance; a term contractor procured through the
tendering process, or a divested or grant funded service. For the purposes of
procurement and contract management, suppliers of goods and services are also
contractors.
Whichever type of contractor we use, SCC procurement regulations must be complied
with.
If you have any queries about the Health & Safety implications of managing contracts
or contractors, then speak to your Health and Safety Advisor.

1.2 Liability
Even though we may contract out works or services, we still retain some level of
responsibility for the actions of our contractors and can face civil claims or even
criminal prosecution if we do not select and manage our contractors effectively.
High value contracts do not always amount to high risk and low value contracts can
sometimes have high levels of risk.
There is a balance to be made between the value of a contract and the potential risk
to SCC, both in terms of health & safety risk and business risk generally. This will
influence the type of procurement process to use, and the level of health and safety
checks to carry out prior to award and the subsequent level of contract monitoring
required.
There is also a relationship between the level of risk in the contracted works or service
and the ‘closeness to our undertaking’, which will also affect the level of liability to
SCC.
More residual risk will apply to SCC where contractors provide a service, directly on
our behalf, or interact with members of the public etc., especially if children or
vulnerable adults are involved, than say where contractors work largely away from our
premises, in their own premises or elsewhere, where their interaction with our
processes won’t be quite such an issue.
The risk matrix below gives a guide as to the type of contract procedure that is most
suitable and the level of contract management required for various works or services
depending on the level of risk involved.
Where a contractor has multiple contracts .e.g. a bus company with more than one
bus route, which are regarded as separate contracts, then the combined value of
those contracts should be taken into account in assessing the control value.

1.3 Risk Proximity Matrix

This matrix will help you determine the best procurement and contract management
path to follow for the type of work or service being contracted:

Risk Proximity Matrix Part 1

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Assess the risk in terms of the potential impact and the ‘closeness of the undertaking’.
This is done before any thought of financial value is considered in order to determine
the level of risk that is associated with the contract or service being procured.

Step 1 – Determine the impact, score 1-8 (Uncontrolled Risk)

Death / Disability 8
Major Injury / 4
RIDDOR
Minor Injury / 1st Aid 2
None / Trivial 1

Step 2 – Determine the closeness of undertaking, score 1-4

Delivering a service to vulnerable groups e.g. children, vulnerable adults e.g. care 4
services.
Delivering a direct service to clients or MoPs e.g. highway maintenance. 3
Has contact with and/or impact on staff, clients, MoPs etc. e.g. building 2
maintenance.
No direct impact on staff/clients/MoPs e.g. Supply of goods. Provision of 1
administrative services.

Step 3
Determine the risk score. Multiply Step 1 x Step 2

8 16 24 32
Impact

4 8 12 16
2 4 6 8
1 2 3 4
Closeness of Undertaking

1 – 3 Trivial Risk to SCC

4 – 6 Low Risk to SCC
8 – 16 Medium Risk to SCC
24 – 32 High Risk to SCC

Risk Proximity Matrix Part 2

Put the risk proximity ranking against the value into Step 4 to determine the controls
necessary both to procure and to manage the contract. Note that the colours in this
part of the grid do not relate to risk, but to the level of control. Low value contracts
can still be high risk.

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Step 4
Risk Proximity Matrix

High
Medium
Risk to SCC

Low
Trivial
<£10k £10k – SCC SCC Contract > EU
Contract threshold - EU Threshold
threshold Threshold
Value of Contract

Note that different EU thresholds apply to goods and services and works.

Step 5
Use the matrix to determine the actions required for procurement and contract
management
Grey
 No special health and safety requirements.
 Suitable for purchase order or any tender procedure.

Blue
 Health and safety requirements to be clearly defined in contract or with
purchase order.
 Checks undertaken to verify supplier is suitably competent and experienced
and manages health and safety effectively. e.g. SSIP accredited.
 Check with SSIP annually to ensure contractor is still on the list.

Purple
 Health and safety performance to be a substantial element of prequalification
process with SSIP an acceptable alternative.
 Open procedure unlikely to be suitable for contracts above the EU threshold 1.
 Health and safety requirements, tailored to the nature of service, to be clearly
set out in contract.
 Details of H&S management system to be provided with tender and to be part
of quality evaluation.
 Contract monitoring (unless one-off purchase order) to include headline
indicators such as AFR plus service specific indicators.

Brown
 Health and safety performance to be a substantial element of prequalification
process with SSIP an acceptable alternative.

1
Note For procurement below the EU threshold the regulations recommend open tendering. Where
this is used specific and relevant evidence of H&S compliance will be required as a minimum standard
for participation.

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 Open procedure unlikely to be suitable for contracts above the EU threshold 2.

 Health and safety requirements, tailored to nature of service, to be clearly set
out in contract
 Details of H&S management system to be provided with tender and part of
quality evaluation.
 Also consider including quality criteria relating to how a culture of safe
behaviour will be engendered.
 Evaluation on price only unlikely to be appropriate.
 Contract monitoring to include headline indicators such as AFR plus service
specific indicators.
 Audits to be undertaken as part of contract monitoring to satisfy that a suitable
management system is in place, that it is being used effectively and that it is
resulting in safe working in practice.
 Likely to be a mixture of third party validation, client audit of systems and on-
site inspections/discussions at point of delivery.

2 Market Engagement & Specification

2.1 Defining the Service
The nature of the service to be provided will indicate the relevance of health and
safety issues to the delivery of the service and should be emphasised with potential
providers as being significant. Including a specific requirement for performance in this
area means that it can later be included in the formal evaluation model used to assess
bids as well as on-going contract monitoring/key performance following award.

Some procurement procedures allow for structured discussion during the procurement
process to help develop the solution from each bidder to delivering the service.
Whereas others allow for initial prequalification but not discussion.

2.2 Planning for Safe Service Provision:

You must provide your potential contractor with a clear specification of the goods,
services or works to be carried out and adequate and comprehensible information to
enable them to comply with relevant statutory provisions.
To do this you will need to define the service or work to be done. Ask yourself exactly
what the job is. Identify the significant hazards involved and therefore what level of
safety and technical competence is required of the contractor. Once you have
established this, you can then go about building health and safety into the
specification.
Communication and co-operation is important between client and contractor. Where
contractors are providing a service but using our premises, plant etc. they will need

2
Note For procurement below the EU threshold the regulations recommend open tendering. Where
this is used specific and relevant evidence of H&S compliance will be required as a minimum standard
for participation.

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information from us about the condition of buildings, plant etc. when preparing their
own assessment.

2.3 Health & Safety Specification

Relevant health and safety implications must be clearly identified for all stages of the
procurement process.
The design stage is the main opportunity to reduce the risk and future resource
requirements. Failure to consider health and safety in planning/design stage can
result in difficulty for end users, increased incident risk or badly designed facilities
requiring increased management controls, increased running costs and maintenance.
Priority should be given to collective control measures over individual protection.
Goods and equipment etc. should meet set relevant standards and are fit for purpose;
appropriate for the task and the users. E.g. specify equipment with low noise, or
vibration etc. or which have the appropriate CE mark.
Consider:
 The legal requirements for health and safety such as compliance with the
Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and any other Acts, Orders, Regulations or
Codes of Practice pertaining to the health & safety of employees, and others
affected by their acts or omissions in providing the contract or service.
 Disruption and impact of contracted works or services on other operations and
procedures and how to manage this.
 New ways of working and the future changes to SCC.
 The life cycle of the activity being commissioned in relation to changing and
emerging risks.
 End of contract, including disposal of property, goods and waste.
A sample checklist of things to include in the tender specification is attached at
Appendix 1.

2.4 Construction Contracts

Where contracts fall under the requirements of Construction, Design and Management
Regulations then specific SCC guidance must also be followed. Most CDM projects
will involve either RM Property or ESE where specific procedures exist. If a project is
outside of these areas then seek health & safety advice.

2.5 Co-operation with each other

Whether contractors are engaged on term or framework contracts or for one–off jobs it
is important to bring them into our health and safety procedures particularly if they are
working on our premises Contractors such as trades-people, whether or not they are
on an approved list, may be strangers to our sites and won’t know:
 about the hazards on our site - e.g. asbestos, flammable materials etc.
 our site rules and safety procedures; e.g. checking the asbestos register before
starting any physical works;

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 what to wear;
 about special equipment they need to use;
 what to do in an emergency;
 the sound of the alarm, and how and when to raise it.
You may take good practice for granted in-house, but don’t assume the same applies
to contractors. Even regular contractors may need reminding.
When contractors first start work at a new location they should be given an induction
to the premises. Share with them, details of known hazards and risks, our procedures
for dealing with them; Risk Assessments, Method Statements and Safe Systems of
Work etc.
Share with contractors, details of any new hazards as they become known.
Co-operate with contractors and work together in the best interests of health, safety
and wellbeing of both contracted and employed staff, and anyone else affected by our
operations, and expect them to do the same.
Some of these things, such as known hazards or any enforced procedures should be
included into the contract specification especially if there is likely to be a cost
implication to the contractor. Other, operational issues such as induction onto
premises should be dealt with by the client or premises manager after award.

2.6 Communicate with Contractors

Accidents are more likely to happen when the contractor’s job is excluded from our
usual methods of safe working. This might be because:
 the hazards of their job haven’t been identified and steps have not been taken
to minimise risks or;
 no one checks that the contractor follows health and safety rules.
Accidents with contractors can be caused by poor communication. For example, staff
don’t know there is a contractor working nearby or what is happening or else
contractors may not know or understand the dangers on site.
Sometimes you may have more than one contractor working on a project. You need
to think about how their work may affect each other and how they interact with your
activities. Clearly, in these circumstances there is more chance of something being
overlooked.

2.7 Sub-Contractors
Problems can arise when there is further subcontracting unless there are good
arrangements between all parties. Set down rules about subcontracting in the contract
specification and find out from the contractor how they ensure that their contractors
are competent and how they monitor their performance.
Sub-contractors, especially those working on our premises, will also need to know
about our site rules. Those involved in service provision elsewhere e.g. on the
highway or in care services must also abide by our health and safety standards.

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When work is contracted and sub-contracted again, there is more risk that important
safety information, standards, etc. may not be passed on, or understood, so it is very
important that the main contractor knows and understands their responsibilities to
ensure that their subcontractors work to the same rules and standards as we expect
of the main contractor and to supervise them accordingly.
Just as we monitor our main contractors, the work of sub-contractors also needs to be
monitored, although it is not always reasonable for us to monitor and audit sub-
contractors as well. This would normally be carried out by the main contractor and we
should ask to see evidence that it is done. But where the work of the contractor forms
a significant part of our undertaking however, we may want to monitor the sub-
contractor ourselves, in which case this needs to be written into the specification.
The Contract should make clear whether sub-contracting is permitted or not. If it is, the
Client must know exactly what work is being sub-contracted and to who, their role in
the work and have the right to refuse any sub-contractor who fails to satisfy
appropriate standards.
Details of sub-contractor performance, accident, incident rates etc. should be reported
to the contract monitoring meeting and included in the main contractor’s return.
As a rule, there should not be any subsequent sub-contracting by the sub-contractor
as this makes lines of communication and understanding, very tenuous. If, on
occasion this is necessary, perhaps due to the need for specialist expertise then this
should only be done with the express permission of the SCC contract manager who
must agree the safe system of work proposed.

3 Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP)

While increasing the emphasis on health and safety management and performance at
prequalification stage may lead to a more onerous process and a barrier to smaller
companies, there are now emerging solutions to address this, notably SSIP which
aims to cut prequalification costs and bureaucracy through cross recognition of safety
schemes. Details can be found at: http://www.ssip.org.uk/

SSIP is an umbrella organisation encompassing CHAS, Construction Line and others

and similar organisations which monitor compliance so that all member organisations
are of a similar standard. It can be safely assumed therefore that any prospective
contractor, who is accredited by a recognised safety scheme with SSIP, will have
already demonstrated adequate health and safety arrangements without the need for
asking further questions of them.

3.1 Evaluation of Tenders

The eventual evaluation of tenders is normally a blend of quality and price, known as
‘the most economically advantageous offer’. If the evaluation is on price alone
(approval must be sought from the Head of Finance before using price as the sole
means of bid assessment), then health and safety considerations cannot be part of
the evaluation and rely solely on what the council has written into the contract. If there

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is to be a quality element to the evaluation, then health and safety can form part of
that, either as a discrete element (where relevant and proportionate) or woven through
various aspects such as systems and processes, organisational culture, selection of
supply chain etc.

4 Appointment or Award
4.1 Award of Contract
At the award stage you can ask the contractor to verify the information that they
provided at the pre-qualification stage; both in terms of their general Health and Safety
competence, e.g. having a health and safety management system; and also their
specific proposals to deal with the requirements of the particular contract, e.g. risk
assessments, safe systems of work etc.
This information can be part of the selection criteria but it must be made clear to the
contractors at tendering stage how this will be judged.
Those involved in selecting a contractor must themselves be competent to judge or
else seek competent advice through their health & safety advisor.

5 Mobilisation
Mobilisation is often a very intensive period, with all parties working hard to make
sure the contract starts smoothly. For first time outsourcing, managing the TUPE
transfer will often be a dominant issue over this period. However, it is also the time at
which contract management arrangements and processes, and performance
measures will be finalised with the new provider. Future health and safety
management needs to be intrinsic to this process.

Effective contract management needs to start before the contract starts, for example
in agreeing with the contractor a formal contract operational manual and making sure
advance commissioning of services is robust and follows the agreed processes – start
as you mean to go on. This applies to health and safety issues too – they need to be
right on Day 1, not playing catch up.

There are a number of key considerations around how health and safety performance
will be monitored on an ongoing basis:

 What is the level of risk?

 To what extent are the key risk areas directly linked to SCCs undertaking?
 Are there industry standards?
 Is there an applicable regulatory inspection or audit, either by SCC in a
regulatory role, or by others?
 What are the sanctions for non-performance – what are the triggers for these?
 In what circumstances will the contractor be instructed to cease work
immediately or the contract suspended.

A monitoring process should allow SCC to be satisfied that:

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 The provider has a sufficient health and safety management system in

operation with suitable policies, procedures, risk assessments, method
statements, safe systems of work etc. (Initial procurement process, third party
assurance and/or sample audits by or on behalf of SCC)

 The provider’s system, procedures etc., are properly and consistently

implemented and reviewed. (Third party assurance and/or sample audits by or
on behalf of SCC)

In practice the operation of the system is resulting in safe working. (Contract

performance measures, third party inspections (including regulatory), sample
inspection by or on behalf of SCC at the place of service delivery).

6 Contract Management
6.1 Contract monitoring meetings
General contract management arrangements are set out in the Suffolk County Council
– Contract Management Policy and Framework produced by Procurement. This
document sets out, amongst other things, the frequency of contract review meetings
based upon business risk and continuity.
Where there is a significant health & safety risk, regular health & safety review
meetings should also be carried out with the contractor to discuss health & safety
issues, their (health & safety) performance, and to agree actions. Health & Safety
review meetings should be at least quarterly although more often might be
appropriate, depending on the level of risk. Periodically, where the schedule allows, it
may be expedient to combine the health and safety review with the general contract
monitoring meeting. Notes of meetings and agreed actions should be recorded.
Actions should be SMART and carried out within the allotted time scales.
It may also be helpful for contractors to be invited to attend other existing health and
safety meetings such as a Building User Group meeting and this level of co-operation
should be encouraged, although it would not be appropriate however to expect
contractors to discuss their performance at an open forum with other parties present.

6.2 Contract Management Board

Contracts involving significant risk to the organisation will be reported through the
Contract Management Board. The board will identify contracts where there may be
significant risk to SCC, either because of the financial risk, owing to the size of the
contract, or because there is a health and safety or other business risk inherent in the
contract that makes us vulnerable to prosecution or a civil claim if we fail to manage it
properly.
The risk to SCC will be higher where contractors carry out works or a service, directly
on our behalf.
These are the contracts which show as purple or brown on the risk matrix

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6.3 Inspections and audits.

Periodic inspections or audits should be carried out. The frequency, type and location
should be commensurate with the risk and agreed through the contract monitoring
meeting. Suitable wording should be included in the contract to allow SCC to carry
out audits.
If the contractor already has a recognised system of audit, such as QSA then it may
be beneficial for a council representative such as the contract manager or a health &
safety advisor to be involved with that audit rather than create extra work. The results
of the audit and subsequent actions could then form part of the agenda of contract
monitoring meetings.
Where contractors carry out a service on our behalf, a schedule of audits and
inspections should be agreed upon at the contract monitoring meeting and carried out
within the allotted timescale agreed.
In order to carry out inspections and auditing we may need to gain access to
contractors premises, staff, and records. A suitable clause should be included in the
contract to this effect – “The contractor shall allow for officers of the Council to have
reasonable access to the contractor’s premises, staff and records to enable the
Council to ascertain that the services are being provided in accordance with the
contract and any relevant statutory provisions.”

6.4 Health and Safety failings

Action should be taken against contractors for health and safety failings. If a serious
health and safety failing is identified the priority should be to take immediate action to
control the risks involved. This may include requiring the contractor to stop a
particular task or activity until appropriate remedial actions are taken. The person
making this judgement would normally be the contract manager or a premises
manager who should take advice from their health & safety advisor and/or corporate
property advisor as appropriate.
Serious health and safety failings may include:
 Accidents resulting in serious injury to SCC employees or third parties (pupils,
the contractor’s employees, residents, members of the public, etc.)
 Working practices that could result in serious injury.
 Failure to resolve a significant hazard (e.g. inadequate fencing round a
construction site on a school).
 Deviation from agreed health and safety rules, methods of work or terms of
contract.
In the event of a health and safety failing, SCC should work with the contractor
involved to establish the cause and implement appropriate control measures to
prevent a reoccurrence. It is important that the shortcomings of individual employees
are not seen as being the same as shortcomings of the contractor. However this may
indicate concerns about their recruitment, training or management process. In
addition, where a contractor repeatedly fails to take action against a negligent
individual this should be considered a shortcoming by the organisation. The contract

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should reserve the right for SCC to refuse entry and request the re-provision of staff
who it considers represent a risk to the safety of its premises and/or individuals.
Taking action does not simply mean dismissal from a project. Sanctions (outside of
immediate actions) might include not awarding further works until the contractor can
demonstrate corrective actions have been taken.
Whenever action is taken against a failing contractor, they should be provided with
objective information explaining why actions have been taken. Any such sanctions
will need the involvement of the Procurement section.

6.5 Reporting
Term/Framework contractors should provide us with regular reports of their Health and
Safety performance. Precise details will be dependent on the type of contract, and
some reporting will be specific to the type of service being provided and agreed
through the contract monitoring meeting, for example:

Lagging Indicators:3
 No. of fatal injuries
 No. of Reportable Injuries (RIDDOR)
 Accident Incidence Rate (AIR)/100,000 workers.
 No. of Non-Reportable Injuries recorded.
 No. and details of any enforcement actions or prosecutions.

Leading Indicators:
 Staff training carried out
 No. of Risk Assessments carried out / reviewed.
 No. of safety inspections carried out
 H&S audits
 H&S climate survey
 Progress of H&S action plans

7 Responsibilities
7.1 Contract Management Board
To own, co-ordinate and control the Strategic Procurement Pipeline
To oversee major contracts including early market engagement, procurement and
contract management.
Full terms of reference for the Contract Management Board can be obtained from the
Corporate Procurement team.

3
We should ask for statistics pertaining specifically to the SCC contract(s) in question, not the contractor’s overall
figures since they might be involved in higher risk activities elsewhere which is not relevant to SCC.

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7.2 Heads of Service/Directors

Have overall responsibility for ensuring health and safety requirements are considered
during all stages of procurement in their service areas. In particular they are
responsible for ensuring that this policy is implemented and that appropriate training is
provided for those with local responsibility for compliance.
Ensure that those SCC employees, who specify health and safety requirements,
evaluate contractors and tenders are competent to do so.
Ensure that where this expertise is not available and there are indicators that the level
of risk requires this competency then assistance should be sought from the Corporate
Health & Safety Team.
In practice these responsibilities may be done through directing others within the
management chain of their service. However, the Service Head remains ultimately
responsible for ensuring that those persons with delegated responsibility carry out the
requirements in full. The Service Head will therefore need to monitor that works are
being undertaken on their behalf.
Service commissioners, Contract managers 4and those with responsibilities for
procurement
Should ensure that:
 An appropriate health and safety needs assessment, specification and
evaluation of information is carried out at pre-qualification stage
 A proportionate approach to health and safety is applied to procurement
activities.
 The competency of providers of goods and services is suitable.
 Proposed risk control measures are adequate.
 SCC Construction, Design and Management policy requirements are
implemented.
 Adequate monitoring arrangements are put in place in line with SCC policy.
 Competent health and safety advice is sought where needed.
 Suppliers of goods and services are provided with adequate information from
SCC to ensure that they can carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment,
for example, details of fragile roofs for roofing works, information about site
safety arrangements on SCC premises.
 Ensure that resources, roles and responsibilities are assigned to project team
members.
 Ensure that effective lines of communication are organised.

4
N.B. Contract Managers may also be Premises Managers and therefore need, in addition, to be responsible for
items under the heading ‘Premises Managers’

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7.3 Premises Managers

 Where works are being carried out at SCC premises then the Premises
Manager should ensure that contractors are given site information and
induction on relevant site issues such as fire arrangements or the location of
asbestos. Provide copies of our policy or procedure documents as appropriate
to avoid any conflict with our arrangements.
 Should communicate and co-operate with contractors on site both during work
activities and during planning activities.
 Ensure that adequate monitoring arrangements are in place.
 Report any concerns regarding contracting activity to the relevant Contract
Manager.

7.4 Corporate Health & Safety Manager

Should ensure that:
Adequate health and safety monitoring plans for procurement activity (including
commissioned services) are developed and implemented through the Corporate
Health and Safety Team.
Resources (competent advice) is available to assist departments where identified.

7.5 Health and Safety Advisers

Provide competent advice and monitor activities as requested at all stages of
procurement.

8 Definitions and explanations

Competent person – someone who has sufficient training and experience or
knowledge and other qualities that allow them to assist you properly. The level of
competence required will depend on the complexity of the situation and the particular
help you need.
HSE – Health & Safety Executive.
Method Statement -
RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
Risk Assessment – A systematic review of the likelihood of a given hazard to cause
harm, and the severity if it should, given the control measures in place. A half day
training course is available for managers and supervisors.
Significant Risk – More than trivial.
Significant Incident – In incident which is reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, or a
near miss incident which might have led to a RIDDOR reportable incident.

9 References and further reading

HSE Guidance - HSG159. Managing Contractors – A guide for employers

HST45 Page 15 of 16 Version 0.8

Health & Safety Policy – HST45

10 Document Control
Name Comment Date Version No.
Autho Martin Fisher Feb 13 0.1
r
Comments from RH 0.2
Comments from Workshop Feb 14 0.3
Comments from AG Mar 14 0.4
Further comments from RH 17 Mar 14 0.5
Comments from Geoff Dobson 30 Apr 14 0.6
Comments from meeting with RH & AG 9 Jun 14 0.7
Further comments RH & AG 10 Jul 14 0.8
Approved 11 Sep 14 1.0

HST45 Page 16 of 16 Version 0.8