Pre-qualifying contractors ensures a better overall safety process, according to a new report from the NSC.
The report, which utilized data from the BROWZ contractor database, investigated if suppliers, contractors, and vendors recognized the value of participation in pre-qualification programs.
“Contract workers are a vulnerable population – often performing higher risk jobs in worksites with little to no management supervision,” said Amy Harper, PhD, Journey to Safety Excellence & NSC workplace strategy director in a statement. “A best practice for employers is to have a formal contractor management program that helps “qualify” contractors to meet standards set by the hiring organization. It is encouraging to see this report confirm that these types of programs appear to help protect the contactors in our nation’s workforce.”
The contractors in the study were found to have better average total recordable rates (TRR), days away, restricted or transferred (DART) rates and lost workday rates (LWR) within individual industries and all industries as a whole, according to the organization.
The hypotheses which were examined included:
- Contractors in any two-digit industry code will have a better average TRR, DART and LWR than the industry as a whole.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics population in any two-digit industry code will have a stronger annual rate of improvement in TRR, DART and LWR than contractors in the same two-digit industry code.
- Contractors will have better average TRR, DART and LWR than cross-industry averages.
- Contractors will not see greater improvement in TRR, DART and LWR the more years they have been part of the BROWZ universe as compared to the BLS.
- Contractors in group A (contractors outperforming industry) will have a smaller annual rate of improvement in TRR, DART and LWR than BROWZ contractors in group B (contractors underperforming industry).
Detailed results of each hypothesis are outlined in the report which can be found on NSC’s website.