Prequalified vs. Not Prequalified: Safety Culture

An analysis of Appruv contractors and their responses to a survey regarding their safety practices in-house provided insight into why some contractors qualify for clients and some don’t.

Research indicates that contractors and suppliers have lower incidence rates when they are routinely subject to qualification screenings. Appruv asked contractors if they participated in the following seven safety culture practices. These practices were based on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) best practices and focused on giving insight into a contractor’s safety procedures around training, PPE use and inspection, management commitment, and more.

1. Do you have a written safety and health program?
2. Does your company have a full-time safety director?
3. Do you have an accident investigation procedure?
4. Do you conduct site safety inspections?
5. Do you have a program to ensure PPE is inspected and maintained?
6. Do you have a safety training orientation program?
7. Do you use OSHA safety courses (i.e. OSHA 10- and 30-hour)?

50% of prequalified contractors in the aggregate data that responded with a “Yes” to implementing all seven safety practices were prequalified, while only 37% of not prequalified contractors also responded “Yes” to all survey items. According to the Appruv study, percentages of higher EMR, DART, and TRR rates were consistent with the finding that contractors in these groups who did not qualify during an employer screening had higher incident rates even with all seven safety practices in place. Simply put, there was a higher rate of prequalified contractors with lower incident rates when various safety practices were performed.

To gain insight into your contractor, vendor, and supplier safety culture, contact Appruv today.