Replacing "You" with "Us": A New Approach to Contractor Management

In manufacturing, involving contractor employees in technological processes, particularly maintenance, is standard practice. Unfortunately, it is also common for some clients to distinguish between "our" workers and "yours."

At EVRAZ, we have gone further, committing to effective collaboration with contractors and developing an HSE culture among third-party employees. Here are several practices we use for this:

"Seeing is believing" — we involve our contractors in linear safety walkabouts. We continue to develop the HSE culture at EVRAZ. Naturally, achieving even greater success in this area is impossible without paying attention to those who work side-by-side with our employees.

During joint walkabouts, we see how contractor employees interact with process engineers and maintenance units, synchronize their actions, and thereby perform work efficiently and safely together. While there is still room for improvement, the company is already taking significant steps.

Very soon, another tool will be introduced in the workshops — the heat map. This digital product will allow departments to focus on risks, plan work correctly, and ensure that tasks are completed on time and without injuries.

The final tool is the work permit. However, this practice does not work if the employee does not assess risks and hazards themselves during the shift. In our company, paper-based work permits have been replaced by mobile devices. You simply tap your badge and can start working. The time required for employee authorization has been significantly reduced. It is convenient and efficient. To eliminate potential mobile connectivity issues, additional base stations have been installed within the departments.