Risk Management for High-Risk Work Performed by Contractors

Importing Risks: Why Contractors Require Special Control

Involving contractors in large industrial facilities inevitably entails the integration of a foreign production culture, which often does not meet the customer's standards. The low level of competence of contractor personnel and a formal approach to safety rules lead not only to regular violations but also to delays in the implementation of investment projects. Delayed production launches due to incidents result in millions in financial losses. The presentation details NLMK's approach to managing contractor risks at the stage when the organization has already entered the site and started performing high-risk work.

Three-Level System for Handling Violations

The traditional permit-to-work system is unable to fully cover risks on large-scale construction sites with thousands of involved workers. The speaker breaks down the control architecture, the foundation of which is continuous supervising.

• External and internal technical supervision. Involving specialized experts for daily control allows not only recording deviations but also conducting explanatory work directly at the workplaces.
• Detailed violation registry. Systematizing data with deep classification (for example, dividing work at height into problems with anchor lines, scaffolding, or harnesses) makes it possible to identify systemic failures in the processes of a specific contractor.
• Targeted implementation of corrective measures. Based on registry analytics, targeted instructions are formed for the heads of contracting organizations, the execution of which is strictly controlled by the customer.

Safety Transformation in Work at Height

Work at height traditionally generates the largest volume of violations — on some projects, this share reached 40%. Using this key risk as an example, the speaker shows how a comprehensive approach changes injury statistics.

• Practical competence verification. The introduction of mandatory testing at specialized training grounds allows filtering out unqualified personnel before they enter the site.
• Transition to modular scaffolding. The complete rejection of homemade wooden scaffolds in favor of standardized modular structures minimizes the risk of working platforms collapsing.
• Technical supervision of assembly. Each scaffolding structure undergoes an independent check for correct installation. Only after receiving a permitting "green tag" is the team allowed to work.

This scheme made it possible to completely eliminate falls from height at controlled facilities and reduce the number of specific violations by more than 60%.

Management Involvement and Information Transparency

The effectiveness of the control system directly depends on the interest of production management. Including specific safety indicators (participation in line walkdowns, presence at HSE meetings) in the annual KPIs of project managers creates a real demand for safe work execution from the customer. Additionally, the principle of information transparency is introduced: contractors are given full access to corporate risk catalogs, training videos, and reference books, which eliminates the barrier of ignorance regarding the company's internal procedures.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to build a supervising and violation analytics system for a multi-thousand contractor workforce?
• Why does the rejection of wooden scaffolds in favor of modular scaffolding require additional personnel training?
• How does the admission system for work at height through independent technical supervision work?
• How can HSE requirements be integrated into the tender selection procedure for contracting organizations?
• How to use KPIs to involve the customer's production managers in safety control on the construction site?