Contractor management in procurement
One way for government agencies to contribute to reducing the incidence of workplace death and injury, is by ensuring people or organisations contracted to provided services or property have a strong OHS management system and a demonstrated commitment to safety.
By ensuring that health and safety requirements are clearly identified in specification documents, several key messages are conveyed:
- OHS is a priority in conducting business, including engaging contractors
- contractors are required to demonstrate an effective OHS Management system
- contractors are required to comply with contract specific OHS requirements
- who is responsible for the contract activities
- how safety issues will be dealt with during the contract
Assessing hazards during the procurement process
During the procurement process it is important that any potential hazards with the service and/or property being procured is taken into consideration. This can vary so a risk assessment is warranted when planning the procurement
There are specific processes in contracting which will assist on managing health and safety:
- ensuring the contract specifies health and safety requirements
- confirming that the selected contractor understands the requirements and has the capability to meet them
- on-going monitoring and supervising throughout the contract period to ensure the contract requirements are being met
Employer’s duties
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (the Act), employers are required to provide and maintain, as fas as is practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to health of employees and other persons at or near the workplace.
To ensure that risks are managed in accordance with the duties under the Act, employers should systematically manage the risks to health and safety which arise from contractor management. Employers can systematically manage risks by undertaking the following four-step risk management process:
- identify the hazard
- assess the risk associated with the hazard
- control the risk
- review the process
When undertaking risk management, employers must follow relevant Commonwealth regulations. If a relevant Commonwealth approved code of practice exists the employer must either do what the code says; or adopt other equivalent means to achieve outcomes set in the Act or regulations.
If no Commonwealth regulation or approved code exists, employers must choose relevant Commonwealth guidance or other reliable guidance to follow. If the employer can not find a reliable source of good practice or if the guidance is not adequate for its needs, the employer still needs to assess the risk and decide how to control it.
Relevant Commonwealth Guidance Material
Guidance on Occupational Health and Safety in Government Procurement, developed by the Safe Work Australia can be downloaded in PDF format from their website at www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
Note: that guidance material do not have legal status under the Commonwealth OHS Act. However, courts may guidance material as evidence that there is technical guidance available on a specific issue and that a duty holder should have known.
Further information
For further information about this fact sheet, or others in the series, please contact Comcare on the general enquiry line 1300 366 979 or by email ohs.help@comcare.gov.au.
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