What is Prequalification and Can’t I Manage it In-House?

Through a prequalification process, it is important for a client company to gather information about the contractors, suppliers, and vendors who provide services to a facility, assess the risk they pose and ensure they meet corporate requirements. This process can help a company mitigate risk and identifies contractors, suppliers, and vendors who meet established financial, security and safety standards.  The prequalification process can also communicate valuable information such as facility safety policies and procedures and can include an online training component that provides this information to the workers before they arrive at a facility to perform work.

Prequalifying contractors, suppliers, and vendors is an essential part of an organization’s well-rounded Environmental, Health, & Safety goals. A prequalification service acts as an extension of a client company, as the third-party option, for simplifying a normally time-consuming and complex process. A thorough prequalification process accurately collects necessary data at a fraction of the in-house cost, to effectively reduce the exposure to the risk that multi-employer worksites face.

The process of prequalification can be time-consuming and tedious. Effective management of all required information takes time during the onboarding process and needs to be continually updated as changes occur. If you are operating a company with contracted workers on-site, chances are they may be performing potentially dangerous tasks.

Utilizing a prequalification service allows you to place the process in capable hands and gain peace of mind knowing that all documents will be managed, vendors will be notified for updated information, and all information will remain secure in one central location.

Prequalification services collect and examine various factors to determine a contractor’s eligibility to be on your job site or in your facility. These can include but are not limited to:

• Certificates of Insurance (COI)
• Bonding Qualification
• Experience Modification Rates (EMR)
• OSHA Recordable Incident Records
• Contracts and Agreements
• Geographic Service Areas

Some prequalification services offer a one-size-fits-all approach that can become bogged down with unnecessary information. When a prequalification service is fully customized to a client company’s precise specifications, only the necessary data is collected without the excess information gathered through a one-size-fits-all approach.

Appruv’s customizable prequalification service offers a learning management system where online training and orientation can be viewed by contracted workers before they arrive at a facility or job site.  Whether the training content is provided by the client company or produced by Appruv, all levels of training, from corporate to site-specific, can be housed and viewed within the Appruv web application.  Quizzes to confirm understanding of the training content can also be included.  Once training is complete, a worker’s profile is updated, and they are prepared to work upon arrival, saving time and money.

While some companies find that they can manage the prequalification process on their own, they often face shortfalls and inaccuracies as they navigate through the process.  Hiring a talented team of technology and safety experts to execute the work more efficiently and accurately is a savvy business move. Trusting a prequalification service to properly manage the process reduces in-house burden, saves time and money, and contributes to a safe work environment.