The contractor ratio within the oil and gas extraction industry has increased significantly over the past two decades. With this rise in the number of contractors, the frequency of injury has also increased. Furthermore, compensation for contractor injuries is less regulated than for direct-hire employees, thus increasing liability and potential cost. As such, it has become imperative for oil and gas companies to better align and engage contactors to existing HSE policies, thereby decreasing the injury and accident frequency and preventing potential associated costs.

Confluent factors such as heightened globalization, the global recession and the integration of new technologies and extraction techniques have led to increased utilization of contractors in the oil and gas sector. While companies and contractors have the same objective as it pertains to safety – to prevent all injuries and accidents – it is ultimately the company that determines the level of safety in the workplace. To deliver improved safety outcomes for contractors, DuPont developed an approach to contractor safety management that has proven efficacious in decreasing the frequency of injuries and accidents among its contractors. The system is composed of six complementary processes: (1) the selection of contractors with satisfactory safety records, (2) the inclusion of safety standards in contractual obligations, (3) clarification of expectations upon award of bid, (4) orientation and training of contractor teams, (5) monitoring of safety activities, and (6) a post-contract evaluation to assess success and lessons learned.

To ensure efficacy, companies must first develop an appropriate context for contractor safety by familiarizing themselves with safety issues that affect contractors specifically, demonstrating a visible management commitment and developing a strong safety culture based on behavior modification and a collective responsibility for safety. While companies must manage contractor safety as they would their own personnel, the development of knowledge transfer methodologies, implementation strategies, and transparent monitoring processes are necessary to optimize safety outcomes for contractors. Furthermore, managers must integrate the six steps into their existing HSE policy and contractor recruitment process.

This paper will describe the benefits of improving the front-end contractor hiring process – selection of contractors with demonstrated satisfactory safety performance, contractual requirement to work safely and clarification of safety expectations upon award – as it not only initiates safety dialogue, but allows for an understanding of the financial and practical implications of incorporating expectations into their bid. Moreover, the paper will discuss the importance of instilling and reinforcing the company’s culture of safety. Companies that have implemented this management system have seen dramatic reductions in injuries and accidents among contractors, and consequently an increase in productivity and an improvement in employee morale.

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