School contractor risk management procedure

Applicability

This procedure applies where a maintained or academy school in England procures or manages contractors or other contracted activities on the school site. Its application should reflect the nature and frequency of the contractor work. Where the current contractor activity is [school contractor activity status], the school should apply the procedure to the extent relevant to that activity.

Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to help school leaders address risks through contracting procedures, communicate site-specific risks to contractors, oversee contractor activities on site, and ensure that staff and visitors are aware of the on-site procedures and precautions to follow.

1. Selecting or engaging contractors

When managing purchasing or contracting, the responsible school leader should use the school's contracting procedures to address the risks associated with the proposed contractor activity. The relevant activity is [contractor activity description], and the responsible school leader is [responsible school leader].

Before the contractor activity begins, the responsible school leader should identify the site-specific risks that need to be communicated to the contractor and the relevant site procedures and precautions that apply to the activity.

2. Communicating site-specific risks

The responsible school leader should advise the contractor of the site-specific risks relevant to the work. The information should identify the precautions that apply at the school site and the on-site procedures that the contractor needs to know. The site-specific information for this activity is [site specific risks and precautions].

The contractor's designated contact for this activity is [contractor designated contact]. Communication should take place before the relevant contractor activity starts and whenever the information that applies to the activity needs to be communicated again.

3. Briefing staff and visitors

The responsible school leader should ensure that staff and visitors are aware of the on-site procedures and the precautions to follow in relation to the contractor activity. The relevant procedures and precautions are [relevant site procedures and precautions].

The arrangements for communicating this information to staff and visitors are [staff and visitor briefing arrangements].

4. Overseeing contractor activities

The responsible school leader should oversee the contractor's activities on site. The person responsible for this oversight is [contractor oversight role], and the activities covered are [contractor activities to be overseen].

The depth of oversight should reflect the nature and frequency of the contractor work. The arrangements for overseeing the activity are [contractor oversight arrangements].

5. Accidents, incidents and corrective action

The school should maintain arrangements for accident and incident reporting in connection with contractor activities. An accident or incident should be reported through [school accident and incident reporting arrangement].

Where an accident, incident or identified risk requires action, the responsible school leader should record the corrective action through [corrective action recording arrangement] and ensure that the action is communicated to the relevant people.

6. Review of arrangements

The responsible school leader should monitor the operation of the contracting procedures, the communication of site-specific risks, the oversight of contractor activities, and accident or incident reporting. The arrangements should be reviewed when the contractor activity or the relevant site procedures and precautions change.