In a climate where work is commonly contracted in and specialist skills are often sought, the popularity of contractor management services is increasing. Similarly, as businesses are increasingly aware of their legal obligations and the risks that face their organisation when working with contractors, it makes sense that so many are turning to the specialised and comprehensive services of contractor management companies who will support them with contractor compliance checks and a range of other important matters.

While many people are aware about its range of benefits, few people are completely informed about what contractor management services do and how they do it.

Generally speaking, three distinct services are offered by quality contractor management service providers.

1. One of the most important (and advantageous) tasks undertaken by contractor management services is the checking and verification of contractor insurances and licenses. This task is imperative by law and relieves pressure from the employing organisation. Frequently an organisation seeking the services of a contractor does not have the administrative resources and time available to undertake the required checks themselves. It is often necessary to locate and track an extensive range of licenses and certifications and few businesses have staff with the necessary knowledge available to complete these checks in-house. It also follows that devoting staff to such a task within your organisation can present significant expense.
2. Contractor management services will also carry out checks on the occupational health and safety of prospective contractors. Part of this service may require examination of a range of necessary accreditations that relate to a particular contractor service. Unsurprisingly, this process can be messy, complex and time consuming and sometimes, considerable interaction and liaison with contractors is required. Expert services are best placed to provide these services and ensure that all checks are completed thoroughly and accurately. Also, when checking and verification processes are completed by specialist companies, employers are afforded a degree of protection from what is ultimately a legal issue. The records that are then maintained by these companies can also prove immensely useful to companies and contractors alike.
3. Many contractor management organisations also offer online safety inductions. Induction is of course important for all employees and safety inductions can provide important information in different ways. A major benefit of using a contractor management company to provide safety inductions for your business is that they can be uniquely tailored to address the job-specific safety practices that are most important in your business. Such safety inductions create clear standards including the level to which tasks should be performed – such standards may otherwise be absent from a safety induction program.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of using a contractor management company is that these experts have the most up to date and relevant information for your workplace. They are constantly watching and responding to issues in the field and so possess the best knowledge available. When these companies have and use the best and most current information pertaining to its best practice, problems can be identified early and even prevented before they emerge as critical issues.