Contractors

A contractor is someone who directly employs or engages construction workers, or who controls or manages construction work. This includes companies that use their own workers to do construction work at their own premises.

What contractors must do on all projects

You should:

• be satisfied that you and anyone you employ (or engage) are competent and adequately resourced to deal with health and safety risks;
• plan, manage and monitor your own work to make sure that health is protected from the outset;
• ensure that each subcontractor is informed of the minimum amount of time that is available to plan and mobilise work;
• provide workers who are under your control (whether employed or self-employed) with information on relevant health risks (including those that may arise from other contractors’ work) and a site induction (where not provided by a principal contractor), which they need to work safely, report problems or respond appropriately in an emergency;
• cooperate with others who are involved with the project and coordinate activity;
• get specialist advice (eg from an occupational hygienist) when planning high-risk work (eg work on contaminated land).