Benefits of the VelocityEHS Control of Work Contractor Self-Service Portal

One of the biggest pain points when it comes to control of work for contractors and temporary workers is the amount of administrative work to verify that contractors coming on-site meet our stringent safety standards. From submitting required documentation and pre-qualification responses to completing worksite training and induction, it can take days, even weeks’ worth of administrative work to get all the pieces in line so that a contractor or temporary worker is ready to work.

What if there were an electronic system that streamlined the entire process of contractor management, ensuring that the right people are hired for the right jobs, and that all the necessary qualifications and controls are in place prior to them stepping through the door?

The VelocityEHS Control of Work VelocityEHS Control of Work Solution includes our Contractor Management Self-Service Portal which allows a contracting company and their workers to take ownership of their information. The portal enables them to upload, verify and manage their own pre-qualification submissions, safety documentation and other required information, as well as complete training and induction for contracted jobs before they even report to the work site.

Let’s take a look at some of the basic steps in the contractor management process and how the Contractor Management Self-Service Portal works to streamline the process and help eliminate many of the administrative burdens that keep contractors and temporary workers from getting on-site quickly so they can get the job done.

Compliance Documentation & Records Submission 

For a contractor provider or temporary employer to be qualified, let alone selected and authorized to work on-site, they first need to upload their insurance documentation and other required information and records into the system for review by the host employer. Digital documents can be uploaded and managed within the system and the contracting company will need to verify that the correct, valid documents have been uploaded. This contractor’s administrator can edit and manage the company’s documents and will be responsible for monitoring qualification status and verifying that the right documents have been uploaded, validated, and not expired.  

The Contractor Management Self-Service Portal makes it simple for contracting company administrators to monitor their document submission tasks using a “traffic light” system to indicate the status of any required documents—green if they’re properly uploaded and valid, orange if it’s 30 days out from expiring, and red if it has expired. If a required document has not been submitted or is expired, the system will automatically add an action item to the contracting company’s “To Do Card” within their company profile. Here, they can quickly view and complete any outstanding action items that require attention. This includes compliance documentation and records, and as we’ll see in the next steps, pre-questionnaires to complete or required worker training courses.

Worker Pre-Qualification 

Once the contracting company’s compliance documentation and records are verified, the Contractor Management Self-Service Portal sends a pre-qualification questionnaire for the contracting company and their workers to complete. Pre-qualification questionnaires can be easily built and deployed by the host employer using the contractor management tools within the VelocityEHS Control of Work Solution. Within the pre-qualification questionnaire, contracting companies and contract/temporary workers can submit responses regarding their work history, safe work statements, licenses, certifications, and training qualifications, and any pre-qualification criteria established by the host employer.

By making it easy to view and assess whether pre-qualification criteria are met, both host employers and contracting company administrators can easily evaluate individual workers’ qualifications and identify contractors who are qualified to perform whatever job(s) are being contracted by the host employer. This eliminates any potential communication or recordkeeping errors that could cause work stoppages or delays due to contractors or temporary workers lacking the necessary qualifications to work safely and perform the jobs they are contracted for. We all know what happens when employees work jobs that they aren’t qualified for, especially contract or temporary workers.

Training & Site Induction

Because the Contractor Management Self-Service Portal tracks contractors’ and temporary workers’ roles, qualifications and what jobs they will be performing, the Course Manager tool within the portal knows which training items to assign to individual contractors as part of site induction. Instead of the company administrator having to manually assign each specific training course to each contractor, the induction process is automated, and courses are immediately assigned once qualification is verified. The portal also allows host employers and contracting company administrators to view each contractor’s training history and status directly within their profile, and update training requirements/assignments as needed.

Like document and records submission, the Course Manager tool also applies a “traffic light” system of green, orange and red icons to indicate the status of a training action item. Training status will show as orange when a training item is 30 days away from its due date, and the contractor will receive an automated email reminding them of the outstanding training item. When their training is officially overdue, the icon will be red, and the warning will appear for the contractor, the contracting company administrator, and the host employer administrator. The contractor cannot be added to a permit until the mandatory qualification is valid, or approved for access to the site if they haven’t completed all required training and other site induction action items. Even if the contracting company has contractors working between multiple sites, which may each have their own distinct training and site induction requirements, the system will automatically assign these items to the contractor based on the location settings in their contractor profiles.

Putting It All Together

What do each of these benefits add up to? Put simply, a more efficient and standardized contractor management process. Many companies are still reliant on paper, spreadsheets, email, and a lot of back and forth to manage all the information and communication that goes along with the contractor management process. As a result, they still struggle with the delays, communication errors and unforeseen risks that often result from use of these disconnected and outdated systems. The Contractor Management Self-Service Portal within the VelocityEHS Control of Work Solution streamlines the contractor management process and automates many of the manual tasks that go into evaluating, selecting, and training contractors so you can get the job done safely and quickly, and focus on your more important EHS and ESG goals.

Take a look at the many capabilities within our Control of Work solution, and contact us for a demo to see first-hand how we can help you.