The recession has hit businesses in many ways. An increasing trend is of hiring a number of contractors, who might be unskilled and inexperienced, in order to save costs. The risk is that there are greater chances of accidents at the work site, which is new and unknown to the contractor, and this ends up in the employer eventually having to pay huge sums as personal injury claim.
The law holds an employer responsible for safety and health of not only the employees, but also that of independent contractors. Mace & Jones, a well-known law firm, has cautioned the employers of these increased risks associated with using contractors. Jeremy Bradshaw, Personal Injury Specialist for Mace & Jones, pointed out that hiring people without sufficient skills and training, for cutting expenses, could cost the employer dearly in the long run.
In cases where the contractors are engaged on sites with heavy machinery or risky work, the danger of mishaps increases manifold. According to Mr. Bradshaw, employers are generally ignorant of the level of training and skill of an independent contractor. One of the ways of minimising risks of accidents is by making sure that the task given to a contractor is well within his capability and that he has had some experience in the task.
The employers are advised to carry out an assessment of danger at their sites and all the employees as well as contractors should be briefed about the likely risks as well as the precautions to be taken. Further, the employer can take charge of the modus operandi of the contractors to some extent and ensure that they are not engaged in potentially dangerous ways of performing the task. Without proper precautions, the employers would be exposed to a huge risk of personal injury claims.
The employers should ensure that the contractors’ previous work report is satisfactory and that there are no recent accidents reported in the same. Employer should also hold regular meetings with employees, provide them with relevant information, and constitute a safe system at work. They should also hold meetings in cases of a change in the project or while taking services of sub-contractors.
Make sure that your company is not in the dark when it comes to new health and safety regulations. The other way to keep up-to-date is to make sure that you take advantage of the accredited iosh training services operated by reputable companies such as Workplace Law.
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