CONTRACTOR SAFETY

Abstract

This paper deals with the efforts and results of a Management driven campaign to improve contractor safety performance in WAPET's operations.

WAPET Management identified Contractor safety performance as one of four key safety focus areas in their 1995 Business Plan. The other focus areas were Hazard Analysis, Training and Audit and Review.

Strategies adopted for achieving improvements in contractor safety included:

aligning Contractor Goals and Objectives with WAPET's by involving major contractors in 'Best Practices' workshops. The workshops specifically addressed the Business Plan focus areas and the identification and measurement of performance indicators. The workshops provided contractors with an open forum to express their views and efforts in these areas;

holding follow-up meetings with individual contractors and contractor groups with common areas of work. Both contractors and WAPET management detailed the status and efforts being put into these areas. These meetings identified improvement opportunities and opened up communication links both with WAPET personnel and between contractors; and

implementing the results of the workshop and meetings by upgrading WAPET's Safety Management System particularly in the areas of pre-qualification, contracting philosophies and contractor management philosophies.

Feedback on each stage of the 1995 program was used to determine the strategies for the 1996 program. The workshops and meetings highlighted process improvement opportunities particularly in areas of industry standardisation, development of contractor Safety Management Systems, lines of communication/accountability, employee involvement and performance indicators. These opportunities were documented in a 'Contractor Best Practice* manual of which over 350 have been distributed.

Conventional safety measures indicate a 50 per cent improvement in both LTI and Total Reportable frequency rates for WAPET's contractors in the past 12 months. The success of the program was also demonstrated by other indicators such as greater openness in communications, greater participation in safety meetings and a closer working relationship with WAPET.