Contractors are not one-off deals: how to manage safety throughout the entire lifecycle, not just at the entry point

From one-off deals to long-term partnership

Amidst growing labor shortages and intense competition for skilled workers, the approach to managing contractors in industrial enterprises is inevitably transforming. Experience shows that treating a contractor as a temporary resource that can be easily discarded at the first sign of non-compliance is no longer effective. Sporadic inspections and fines are being replaced by a concept of long-term partnership, where the client invests time and resources into developing the safety culture of the hired companies.

This presentation details the experience of Uralkali in building a comprehensive system for contractor engagement. The project's starting position required significant changes: the safety culture rating of contractors based on the Bradley Curve was only 1.4 points, and half of the 250 companies operating on-site were performing tasks within the zone of the top 7 critical (fatal) risks. To address these issues, a model was developed based on the principles of the international standard ISO 45001 and the PDCA continuous improvement cycle.

Three stages of contractor safety management

Moving away from a linear approach (tender check — contract signing — incident investigation) has enabled the creation of a closed-loop management system consisting of three key blocks.

Entry barrier and technical audit

The first stage is aimed at filtering out unqualified contractors and assessing the real state of companies before work begins. Pre-qualification includes 42 criteria, each of which must be documented. To accelerate the verification process during tenders, a local AI model is used, which analyzes uploaded documents without violating information security perimeters.

However, documents do not always reflect reality. Therefore, the next step is a technical audit — site visits by the client's specialists to the contractor's base. The condition of equipment, the quality of provided PPE, the availability of functional tools, and even living conditions (changing rooms, showers) are assessed. This provides a clear understanding of how much effort will be required to supervise this company on the production site.

Field supervision and focus on critical risks

The central element of the system is field supervision, which cannot be replaced by document checks. The main focus here is shifted to line managers — foremen. It is the foreman who shapes the team's attitude toward safety through engaging briefings and competent organization of the work process.

An important innovation was the transition from one-off work permits to shift-based permits, which allows for accounting for the changing production environment. Furthermore, a self-control tool for workers has been introduced: before performing tasks with critical risks, the employee fills out a short checklist. If safe conditions are not ensured (e.g., missing scaffolding planks), the worker has the legitimate right to refuse to work. The client's task at this moment is not to punish for downtime, but to help the foreman quickly eliminate violations and safely continue the process.

Dynamic rating and motivation

The results of field audits and inspections form a dynamic contractor rating. This metric allows the HSE department not to waste resources on "green" (reliable) companies, but to focus attention on those in the risk zone. For contractors with a high rating, a motivation system is provided: priority in concluding long-term contracts, revision of penalties, and increased payment indices, which makes safe work economically profitable.

Resources and scaling

Experience shows that managing 250 companies (about 4,000 workers) does not require a bloated staff. In the presented case, all methodological, auditing, and analytical work is performed by a team of five people. The success of the implementation is due to the right start: the system was not scaled to the entire enterprise at once. First, a 21-day pilot project was conducted based on one medium-sized company, which allowed for refining checklists, work-stoppage algorithms, and formats for engaging briefings in real conditions.

What you will learn from this presentation:

• How to automate the verification of contractor qualification documents using local neural networks?
• Why is a shift-based work permit more effective than a one-off work permit?
• How to practically implement a contractor employee's right to refuse dangerous work without conflict with production?
• How to build a dynamic rating to prioritize inspections and motivate reliable partners?
• How to control the safety of thousands of contractor employees with a compact team of five people?