Supervise or monitor?
August 1st 2004 Vetting Contractor Competence: The Difference between Supervising and Monitoring. By Nigel Bromley, safety services manager, Accenture HR Services
Hiring contractors is a form of outsourcing which is familiar to us all. When we employ someone to help us in our personal lives, we may bring in a builder or a plumber, employ a nanny or pay to have our laundry washed and folded. We do not spend time supervising these individuals because we are confident that they are properly trained and reliable. One of the main reasons for hiring these individuals, besides purchasing their level of expertise, is to save time. If we were to supervise all or most of a contractors activities, one of the benefits of outsourcing the service would be lost.
However, we often spend time monitoring, as opposed to supervising, our personal contractors. We give the nanny a ring to see how the kids are, ask the plumber a question (even though we may never understand the answer) to try and test his competence, and of course, provide all those cups of tea, which is really an excuse to check on the progress of the work (and keep our builders happy and working).
Understanding the difference between supervising and monitoring is key to any outsourced relationship and this applies just as much to the business world and is particularly important in the construction field. This is due to the increased risk and heightened attention to health and safety that work in this area inherently brings. When a contractor disregards health and safety regulations, or an accident occurs, it is the sponsoring company that becomes the key focus of attention to ensure that it has complied with its legal obligations and employed competent contractors. Thus, the importance of vetting contractor compliance and monitoring safety levels becomes clear.
The manager of a construction team is in charge of on-site supervision, and the construction company to which his team belongs has a responsibility to ensure its workers are trained, protected and properly equipped. However, when a separate hiring company employs these contractors, an entirely new set of responsibilities appear. The hiring company must check and verify the competence of the contractors. Overall, they must ensure that the contractors company has the necessary safe systems in place and has a robust management system, in order to administer safety on site. Although we might hire a plumber based on a neighbours recommendation, when it comes to large corporate construction projects, more time spent analysing paperwork and verifying is imperative.
The contractors have a task to carry out and they should ensure this is accomplished in a timely, cost effective and skillful manner. Their teams should be trained and experienced, familiar with their equipment and use it properly. Their supervisor must enforce these activities. However, the hiring company, having checked that the contractors credentials are valid and up-to-date before the project begins, and that they have a safety management system in place, should monitor on an ongoing basis that the management systems are being complied with. This will include all relevant activities that the contracting company has detailed, including checking on the previously specified level of supervision and safety checks that the contracting companys own managers and supervisors should be carrying out. So the focus is on checking the management systems and not the people carrying out the task. The responsibility for supervision should lay on the contracting company as they should be in control of the work. If not, the hiring company may well be liable for any accident which might occur.
A construction supervisors authority is directed at his team and his accountability is ultimately to his main employer. A hiring companys accountability is much wider. The company must protect all their full-time, contracted employees and others who may be in the vicinity, ensure the construction site is safe if full control has not been taken by the contracting company, and monitor construction activities in a cost-effective and time-effective manner, usually by heavily involving the contractors appointed supervisor.
A leading UK telecommunications company works with Accenture HR Services to vet the competence of its contractors before a project begins and monitor health and safety adherence throughout the activity. Through this relationship the company ensures its contractors are properly trained and supervised and can measure not only the effectiveness of its contractors, but also the entire safety system being used. By doing so, the company doubly benefits from checking the competence of their contractors and receiving a full safety audit.
Some key questions about construction contractors are listed below. If any of these highlight doubts, just remember when it comes to health and safety matters, prevention is always better than the cure: What kind of qualifications does the head of the contracted construction team have? How is the construction contractors safety record? What supervision takes place? Is this recorded? How are defects dealt with? Has the team ever discussed any health and safety qualifications or procedures? Have the construction workers ever worked without using the relevant safety equipment? How does the site look after the team has finished for the day? Are there any tools or equipment left out? How many First Aid kits are on the construction site? When was
the last full safety audit undertaken? | 
