Contractors monitoring performance

Direct and supervise the work of the engineering contractor, monitoring its procedures, staffing, and performance to insure that the quality, cost, and schedule objectives are met without unnecessary expense and within timing constraints. 

Contract language is important in setting the responsibility of the contractor to work in a safe manner. Specific language should be included in the contract to define this responsibiUty. At the same time, the owner of the plant has the obligation imder Responsible Care (Section 7.3) and Title 29 OSHA regulations to provide all necessary information and certain training and to monitor the contractor s performance. 

Because production operators have the overall knowledge cmd daily control of a mine operation, they are in the best position to coordinate the contractor s activities and to monitor the contractor s safety performance. When a production operator selects an independent contractor to perform services at a mine, the focus should be not only on the technical ability of the contractor to do the job, but also on whether the contractor has the necessary knowledge, skills, resources, and commitment to ensure the safety and health of the persons they employ. 

When connected to the OnGuard RMT communication gateway, the status of the water heater is communicated directly to Bradford White technicians. This assisted monitoring protocol trees customers fi-om monitoring their water heater s operational status. Bradford White technicians do the status monitoring and contact the customer in the event the water heater indicates a fault or requires service. These same technicians then contact an authorized service contractor to perform any required repair or maintenance. And just as important, Bradford White covers the cost of the service calls and repair. 

Contractors at Sites B, D, G, I, and J had incomplete sampling practices and as a result were not able to evaluate PPE levels based on monitoring data. Eor example, both contractors SSAHPs at Site I lacked provisions for monitoring site hazards such as metals, pesticides, herbicides, and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that could not be evaluated with a PID. Since worker exposures to the range of hazards on site had not been characterized, PPE was not selected based on its performance relative to the nature and level of site hazards. 

The sampling and monitoring frequencies specified in the Site B site contractor s SSAHP were not consistent with HAZWOPER requirements since the plan based monitoring frequency on prior sampling results alone and did not consider other factors such as the performance... 

Contractor or vendor upgrades or maintenance activities, especially when performed remotely (i.e., over a network), should be monitored carefully because they can introduce changes that might otherwise go unnoticed and have an adverse effect on a validated system. 

Make effective use of contractors—All contractors should be provided with a well-defined scope of work. Their performance against requirements should be monitored frequently. Hire real expertise wherever possible the low bidder may not be fully capable, and true talent is rarely inexpensive. Be on the alert for add- on charges such as administrative fees. Be wary of bait and switch tactics where the A team bids on the job, but only the C team is ever on site. Use a completion-based payment schedule to keep contractors performing fully. 

In a major project, in addition to the general contractor, the Project Manager is usually assigned a team of engineers specifically dedicated to support the project and follow up on the details of the work to be performed and monitor progress. The Project Manager s role is mainly to provide overall direction, ascertain that proper controls are established and monitor their implementation to insure compliance to project objectives and specifications. 

In-house engineering is probably the least expensive approach of any case, particularly when it can be performed by personnel who would be involved in the monitoring of a contractor s work anyway, such as CED instrument engineers. 

The contractor doing the engineering work requires a certain degree of monitoring and supervision and, in some cases, even direction from the Owner. This is especially true when the contractor performs its work under a cost reimbursable contract. 

The Field Indirects Checklist and Field Indirects Criteria in Appendix K are intended mainly as control tools to check contractors detailed estimates and planning as well as to monitor their performance in reimbursable contracts. They can also be used as an estimating tool to develop in-house detailed or semi-detailed estimates. However, for in-house and preliminary estimates, sufficient accuracy can be achieved by ratioing the field indirects to direct labor and subcontracts. 

Monitor the work performed by the plant to ascertain whether it is done on a timely basis, and advise contractor and Project Manager of any schedule deviations. 

Preparing the appropriation estimate and MPS offers the Project Manager and the entire project team an excellent opportunity to get a firm grip on the project and gives them the best tools to monitor and evaluate contractors performance. As an experienced project manager said once... 

Monitoring of the performance of contractors and follow-up of non-compliance should be carried out according to a written procedure. It should include continuous monitoring, as well as periodic review and renewal of the contract. 

Periodic review of the contract should be based on an assessment of the contractor s overall performance. The criteria outlined for monitoring of prequalified products and manufacturers (see Section III. 6) also apply to monitoring of contract-acceptors who store and distribute pharmaceutical products. 

Manage and monitor the performance and quality of sub contractors as well as their own performance. 

This example plant has a permitted emission limit value for dust of 10 mg/Nm . The monitoring system has an alarm limit of 5 mg/Nm . If this limit is passed, the filter is checked and tested with fluorescence material. If the measured value passes 10 mg/Nm , the production and filter are stopped. Calibration of the monitoring equipment is performed twice a year by an external contractor. 

Monitor and review the implementation of all aspects of this Order, including field organization and contractor performance ... 

Monitor the performance of the contractor, and take appropriate action if the need arises. 

Employers who use contract employees in and around hazardous processes have the responsibility of choosing contractors with the proper skills and monitoring their performance. Contractors should be screened for safety performance in other work, skill in the required tasks, and knowledge of the process or types of systems on which they will work. It is sometimes useful for an employer to include contract employees in existing training programs. Contractor employees often perform specialized and hazardous tasks. Examples are nonroutine repairs and entry into confined spaces. It is therefore important to control their activities. A permit or work authorization system is a usefril vehicle toward this end. 

Case 3. A chemical company with 1,200 employees has found numerous ways to include its employees in the site s safety and health program. For example, the Safety and Health Committee, which includes equal labor and management representatives, has responsibility for a variety of activities, such as monthly plant inspections, incident investigations, and examination of any unsafe conditions in the plant. Employees are also involved in process and operations review, safety inspection, and quality teams. Two hourly employees work fulltime at monitoring the safety and health performance of on-site contractors. 

Aerospace has continued to provide many engineering, design, and safety services to the Air Force for more than 40 years. One of its chief functions is to perform launch verification and readiness assessments for all Air Force space launches. Aerospace s launch verification procedure is veiy broad, beginning with analysis of launch system design. Aerospace independently tests physical components and software, checks manufacturing processes, and verifies correct assembly of the launch vehicle. Finally, Aerospace delivers a formal launch verification letter to the Air Force s Space and Missile Systems Center, monitors the launch, and analyzes launch and post-launch data (Tomei, 2003). All of the functions are redundant in the sense that Air Force and contractor personnel also perform most of the same functions. Aerospace s launch verification serves as an independent, objective assessment of launch safety that the Air Force uses in conjunction with its own analyses in making launch decisions. 

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