All contractors must be assessed to ensure they are capable of carrying out the work that they have been engaged to do. It is the responsibility of the contractor to ensure they employ competent staff but the site should carry out reasonable checks to ensure that competence of the contractor’s employees has been assessed. The reasonable checks are about seeing evidence that competence has been established and could, for example, be in the form of:
• A valid license.
• Membership of trade associations.
• Training records.
• A C.V. (curriculum vitae) showing previous experience in similar work.
If competence has not been established or is found to be lacking, then appropriate action must be taken. This may be in the form of restricted working, supervised working or prohibition from working.
Once contractors have been assessed they should form part of a preferred supplier list. Sites should then be selecting contractors from the list.