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How to Enhance Your Contractor Management Program Through Automation

By Addison Moore
Last updated: March 11, 2023
Key Takeaways

Automating your contractor management program improves accuracy, efficiency, and compliance.

Contractors are a vital part of any organization, but they also introduce a unique set of risks. Those risks can be mitigated with a contractor management program. These programs include various elements, like safety training, orientations, and site inspections. However, managing all those elements manually can be time-consuming and inefficient.

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Automating your contractor management program just makes sense. It ensures accuracy all while minimizing the time you take to refine, monitor, and keep up with the numerous tasks within your program.

In this article, we'll dig a little deeper into why your contractor program should be automated and what steps you can take to make it more effective.

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What Is a Contractor Management Program?

A contractor management program is an organized system of processes and procedures used to manage contractor activities. It includes elements like onboarding, safety training, prequalification, and inspections to ensure consistent and safe job performance.

These programs aim to reduce risk, meet legislative requirements, and improve record-keeping. They are particularly important in high-risk industries, such as mining, manufacturing, and construction.

(Find out Why Contractor Qualification Shouldn't Stop at Prequalification)

How Automation Software Can Help Your Program

Automation software streamlines every stage of your contractor management process – from onboarding new contractors to tracking their progress throughout a project. This allows safety professionals to shift their focus to on-site operations, making their organization safer.

For example, automation software can be used to automatically collect, store, and verify critical contractor information such as training certificates and insurance coverage. This ensures that your third-party workforce is compliant before they arrive at your job site, which results in a safer working environment and less wasted time.

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It can also be used to manage contractor performance, track compliance, and monitor safety performance. Certain software solutions can simplify communication with contractors by providing a centralized point of contact that everyone can access. This makes it easier to stay informed on contractor training and for both the contractor and the hiring organization to send time-sensitive updates rapidly.

Ultimately, automating vital aspects of your compliance program eliminates human error and results in a smoother workflow with fewer delays, less hesitancy, and without the need for constant follow-ups.

How to Get Started with Automation Software

The first step in automating your workflows is to choose and implement a contractor management software that meets the specific needs of your organization while not putting a strain on your time and resources. Look for a software provider that can help you manage your contractor management program from start to finish and offers the support you may require along the way.

The solution you implement must provide you with the flexibility to remain autonomous in your safety efforts, while also allowing you to take control of your processes in order to develop a workflow that benefits you and your workers. That added layer of control and visibility will give you accurate insight into your contractor management program and help you develop a workflow that can scale as your contractor activity grows.

Best Practices for Using Automation Software

When using automation software, it’s important to follow best practices to get the most out of it. Here are some helpful pointers to keep in mind:

  • Regularly review and update your contractor management program to ensure you remain compliant with regulations. This includes ensuring that you request the correct documentation from your contractors to input into your system.
  • Establish clear policies for contractor onboarding and safety training. This will make it easier to build out your workflows.
  • Use automation software to ensure contractor data is accurate and up to date. For example, automating your renewal reminders ensures that you don’t have to manually follow up with every contractor about their credentials.
  • Analyze contractor performance data to identify trends and potential areas of improvement.
  • Keep communication channels open with contractors to ensure everyone is on the same page. This will remove the need for manual follow-up, secure equal participation in your safety program, and provide contractors with a reliable method to voice their concerns and report hazardous conditions.

(Learn more in How to Scale Contractor Management for Larger Contractor Pools)

Wrapping Up

Contractor management can be a time consuming process and manually keeping track of every contractor's training, credentials, and insurance status is a challenge. It is too easy to overlook important details that are required to ensure a safe and compliant jobsite.

If your organization works with contractors, it's time to seriously consider an effective automating solution. It's the only way to ensure that your contractor management program is accurate, efficient, and runs smoothly.

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Written by Addison Moore | Director of Marketing

Addison Moore

Addison has spent the last four years learning from and engaging in the Health & Safety industry. He
has attended numerous EHS conferences, trade shows, and events with the intention of helping
organizations achieve safety and compliance through contractor management software.

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