Contractor Health Safety Environment Handbook
Contractor Health Safety Environment Handbook
Contractor Health Safety Environment Handbook
Environment (HSE)
Handbook for Contractors
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1 Contents
2 Update information .......................................................................................... 4
3 Introduction ................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Definitions and Abbreviations ........................................................................ 5
3.2 Scope ....................................................................................................6
3.3 Policy Summary ........................................................................................ 6
3.4 Contract Specific Requirements ..................................................................... 6
4 Contract Management Process ........................................................................... 6
4.1 Risk Assessment ....................................................................................... 6
4.2 OSH in the Bidding Process .......................................................................... 7
4.3 Health, safety and environment (HSE) Contractor Prequalification ............................ 7
4.4 After Contract Award, and Prior to Work Commencing .......................................... 7
4.4.1 Significant Risk Contracts ................................................................................. 7
4.4.2 Low Risk Contracts......................................................................................... 8
4.5 On Commencement ................................................................................... 8
4.6 During the Course of the Contract................................................................... 8
4.7 On Completion of the Contract....................................................................... 9
5 Contractor OSH Reporting................................................................................. 9
5.1 Monthly OSH Performance Reporting .............................................................. 9
5.2 WorkSafe Notices Reporting ......................................................................... 9
5.3 Incident Reporting...................................................................................... 9
6 Other OSH Procedures/Standards Applicable ....................................................... 10
6.1 HSE Contractor Induction ........................................................................... 10
6.2 Mobile Plant and Trenchless Technology Operator Licencing and Competency .......... 10
6.3 Confined Spaces ..................................................................................... 10
6.4 Public Safety at Construction Sites ............................................................... 11
6.5 Tagging and Isolation................................................................................ 11
6.6 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) ............................................................ 11
6.7 Clearance to Work on Water Corporation Assets ............................................... 11
6.8 Prevention of Falls ................................................................................... 11
6.9 Alcohol and Other Drugs ............................................................................ 12
6.10 Hot Work ............................................................................................ 12
6.11 Grid Mesh Panel Assessments ................................................................. 12
6.12 Other Requirements .............................................................................. 12
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6.13 Safety in Design Report .......................................................................... 13
6.14 Dangerous Goods ................................................................................. 13
7 Attachments ................................................................................................ 14
7.1 Bidder OSH Submission ............................................................................ 14
7.2 Occupational Safety And Health Management Plan (OSHMP) – Guidelines To
Contractors .................................................................................................... 17
7.3 Contractor OSH Statistics Fact Sheet ............................................................ 19
7.4 Health Safety Environment (HSE) Contractor Induction ....................................... 21
7.5 HSE Contractor Prequalification ................................................................... 22
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2 Update information
This Handbook outlines Water Corporation’s safety procedures and general requirements for
contractors working with us. Last published date is 20 January 2015.
The procedures and standards referred to in this Handbook are available to download from the
‘Health and Safety for Contractor’s’ page on our web site: watercorporation.com.au.
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3 Introduction
Contractor
Contractor includes Supplier, Consultant and Vendor – means the person or persons, firm,
company or other entity whose bid has been accepted by the Principal, including any of their
personal representatives, successors and permitted assigns.
Contract Manager
An authorised representative of the Water Corporation (Principal) responsible for selection of a
contractor or management of a contract or both. “Contract Manager” includes the
Superintendent, Superintendent’s Representative, Project Manager, Consultant or Agent. The
Contract Manager may not be the same individual throughout the process.
Hazard
A source or situation with a potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill-health, damage to
property, damage to the environment, or a combination of these.
Step Back
A documented assessment of the hazards, risks and standard controls for a given task by
stopping, looking and discussing the situation with colleagues before proceeding with any
work. Primarily used for Low – Medium risk activities, which do not require a JSEA.
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3.2 Scope
This HSE Handbook for Contractors describes OSH requirements for works as directed by the
Corporation.
The content of this handbook applies to all contracts for the Water Corporation; major contracts,
minor purchase orders and works where payment may be through a corporate purchasing or credit
card if applicable.
It also includes works where the Corporation may receive payment; for example removal and
disposal of scrap metal or disposal of by-products from Water Corporation processes etc.
The overall process of contract management, with respect to OSH, is described below.
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4.2 OSH in the Bidding Process
The Corporation may apply additional or alternative OSH selection criteria or processes for
some large or long term contracts.
HSE Contractor Prequalification is a preliminary gateway in order to be considered to bid for work
with the Corporation for the above work types. Contractors will still need to meet health, safety
and environmental criteria for project-specific contract work if they have been invited for
tendering/bidding.
Please see section 7.5 HSE Contractor Prequalification for additional information.
• The Contractor provides the Contract Manager with a contract specific OSH Management Plan
(OSHMP) for evaluation. Where required, the Contract Manager may require the Plan to be
varied, or to contain additional detail.
Note 1. Guidelines for the required content of the Plan are shown at section 7.2.
Note 2. For single task or short duration contracts, the Contract Manager may waive the requirement for an OSHMP
and instead accept Safe Work Procedure(s) or Job Safety Environment Analysis.
Note 3. Bidders describe their proposals for addressing identified major risks during the bid phase, and this
information must be carried through to the OSHMP, SWMS, JSEA or SWP after contract award.
• When working on an existing Water Corporation site and/ or asset, all Contractor and Sub-
contractor employees must complete the online HSE Contractor Induction. The Principal
Contractor is responsible to ensure that all sub-contractors engaged by the principal
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contractor also undertake the induction. For further information refer to section 6.1 of this
Handbook.
• The Contract Manager arranges a pre-start meeting involving the Contractor and major
stakeholders.
• Where notified of the requirement by the Contract Manager (see section 6.7), the Contractor
obtains a Clearance to Work Permit from the relevant Authorised Person, and applies for such
other permits as the Authorised Person instructs are required to commence the work.
• The Contractor submits Safe Work Procedure(s), Safe Work Method Statement or Job Safety
Environment Analysis to the Contract Manager for evaluation. If necessary, the Contract
Manager may require these to be varied, or to contain additional detail.
Note 1. An OSHMP must be provided when there are five or more personnel working on site.
Note 2. An OSHMP may be required for some low risk contracts of long duration.
• When working on an existing Water Corporation site or asset, all Contractor and sub-
contractor employees must complete the online HSE Contractor Induction. For further
information refer to section 6.1 of this Handbook.
• The Contractor obtains a Clearance to Work Permit or other permit from the Corporation’s
Client, Region or Branch (where required). Refer to section 6.7.
4.5 On Commencement
• The Contractor is required to conduct a site induction for their employees and sub-
contractors. The induction should communicate Water Corporation process and requirements
with relation to safety. Induction records are to be maintained and provided to the Water
Corporation upon request.
• The Contractor trains all employees and sub-contractors in SWMS, JSEAs and SWPs relevant
to their contract work.
• The Corporation conducts an OSH start-up check in the early stages of the contract (which
includes a check against the Contractor’s OSHMP, SWMS’s, JSEAs SWPs and contract specific
OSH requirements where applicable).
• The Contractor obtains further Clearance to Work Permit(s) as the Contract Manager has
notified are required, and any other permits the Authorised Person requires to be obtained.
• Where requested, the Contractor provides monthly OSH Reports (see details at section 5.1).
• The Contractor reports all WorkSafe Improvement or Prohibition Notices (see details at
section 5.2).
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• The Contractor conducts inspections and other regular functions in accordance with the
OSHMP, SWMS’, JSEAs and SWPs. Inspections shall be at least monthly.
• The Contract Manager provides regular feedback to the Contractor during progress meetings
and documents for inclusion in the Contractor Performance Evaluation (where applicable).
• Where requested, the Contractor should submit the final monthly OSH Report (for the month
or part-month).
The Corporation requires monthly performance reporting (with data reported within 10 days of
the end of each month):
• Estimated monthly hours worked on Water Corporation sites (including sub-contractor
hours worked);
• Number of LTI/Ds;
• Number of MTI/Ds;
• Number of Incidents;
• Number of WorkSafe Improvement Notices; and
• Number of WorkSafe Prohibition Notices.
Further guidance on how to enter OSH Performance Statistics is provided in section 7.3 of this
Handbook. If you have any questions about monthly OSH statistics or are unable to enter
statistics online, please phone (08) 9420 3088 or email [email protected].
If you have any questions about the eProcurement Supplier Portal, please phone (08) 9420
3535.
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one full shift or longer);
• Medical Treatment Injuries (requiring treatment from a Medical Practitioner);
• Injuries to the public;
• Incidents having the obvious potential to cause any of the above outcomes.
Verbal advice is required immediately following the incident (as a minimum within two (2) hours)
and a formal written incident report is required to be provided to the Water Corporation within
five (5) working days of the incident. A full incident investigation report detailing the incident
findings and corrective actions is required to be provided to the Water Corporation within 15
working days of the incident.
The Contractor shall notify WorkSafe of injuries/incidents reportable under OSH Regulations.
The Water Corporation OSH Procedures and Standards summarised below apply to our
employees and Contractors. These are designed to ensure we have appropriate health, safety
and environmental processes in place to achieve our commitment to Zero Harm. These
documents are available on the Water Corporation website. A summary of these follows.
The HSE Contractor Induction is an online induction via the HSE Induction website:
watercorpinduction.com.au
Some insignificant or low risk contracts that are non-construction may not require an HSE
induction; however a specific site induction will usually always be required and may suffice for
the particular task. The Contract Manager will advise requirements after an assessment of scope
and risks and duration of works.
Following successful completion of the HSE Contractor Induction, individuals will be issued with
an Induction Certificate, which must be printed and presented upon request when working in a
Water Corporation site or office to provide proof of induction status. To assist in verification, a
form of photo identification may also be required. Personnel engaged in field based activities will
be issued with a replacement Induction Card within 14 business days.
6.2 Mobile Plant and Trenchless Technology Operator Licencing and Competency
Water Corporation standard S146 Mobile Plant and Trenchless Technology Operator Licencing
and Competency describes the Water Corporation’s assessment and competency requirements
for operators of this plant.
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Regulations.
In addition, this work must also comply with specific requirements of the Water Corporation
standard S466 Confined Spaces if the structure to be entered is either:
a) a confined space that is a live asset (i.e. commissioned)
b) a confined space by virtue of being connected to a live asset
Note. This standard includes a requirement for those supervising or participating in the entry to have undertaken
accredited training.
The Contract Manager will notify the Contractor if one or more Clearance to Work Permit(s) will be
required to be obtained prior to commencing, or during the course of the work. The Contractor is
required to obtain Clearance to Work Permit(s) from the relevant Authorised Person.
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6.9 Alcohol and Other Drugs
Water Corporation procedure WC-OSH 209 Alcohol and Other Drugs applies to all personnel
including employees, agency employees, contractors, work experience, university students and
visitors servicing contracts within Water Corporation operational sites and in Water Corporation
business units. Accompanied visitors conducting non-paid work are not subject to testing under this
procedure.
For capital works program sites where a contractor has possession of the workplace, the contractor
shall be responsible and is required to address alcohol and other drugs within their safety
management plan.
Contractors – testing
As per the Water Corporation Purchase Order Terms and Conditions and/or the Water Corporation
General Conditions of Contract, contract parties are required to comply with Water Corporation OSH
policies and procedures. Contract parties shall participate in random drug and alcohol testing if
completing duties at a Water Corporation workplace.
The Contract Manager shall determine if the contractor will return to the Corporation or be deemed
unsuitable under the general Conditions of Contract for having failed to comply with the Principal’s
Drug and Alcohol procedure. The Corporation reserves the right to deem a contractor an unsuitable
person under the General Conditions of Contract, due to having failed to comply with the Principal’s
Drug and Alcohol procedure.
The permit applies when one or more panels of a walkway or landing are temporarily removed
and then reinstated.
The use of concrete cutting saws (colloquially referred to as “Quick Cut Saws”) is banned on all
Water Corporation sites. The only exception to this is if the quick cut saw is trolley-mounted for
the purpose of ground cutting.
There is a panel of specialist cutting and sawing providers that have met pre-defined safety
criteria and are therefore exempt from the ban. To obtain this list of Contractors, or for further
information, contact your Contract Manager.
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6.13 Safety in Design Report
The Contract Manager will make available to the construction contractor the ‘Safety in Design’ or
‘Designer’s Safety’ Report where works are designed by the Corporation or its design
consultants.
Where the Contractor is also the designer (e.g. design and construct contract, alliance, Joint
Ventures etc.) the contractor is expected to demonstrate to the Contract Manager that such a
report has been prepared that satisfies legislative requirements. Legislation applies to even the
simplest of works including maintenance. In some cases a Water Corporation procedure may
cover requirements. Seek advice from the Contract Manager if there is any doubt.
The Water Corporation has produced an ‘Electrical Safety in Metallic Pipeline Construction’
guideline which describes typical associated electrical hazards and their typical controls. Some of
the hazards are quite unique to metallic pipeline construction, relevant to only certain pipelines,
and then typically identified in the designer’s ‘Safety in Design Report’ where applicable. A copy
of the Guidelines is available on request from the Contract Manager.
Certain existing metallic Water Corporation pipelines are potentially affected by hazardous touch
voltages induced in the pipeline from adjacent power lines. For work on these pipelines, the
Corporation’s Pipeline Voltage Mitigation Procedure applies. The Procedure includes a list of the
specific existing pipelines that are applicable.
The Contract Manager is able to provide further information for works that may be affected by
the above.
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7 Attachments
Companies bidding or contracting with the Water Corporation shall complete this questionnaire
and submit it to the Water Corporation with their Offer for Work if required by the specifications.
The Health Safety and Environment (HSE) Handbook for Contractors outlines HSE
requirements for Contractors undertaking work for the Water Corporation. Both the handbook
and the documentation referenced within are available for download from the ‘Health and
Safety for Contractor’s’ page at the website: watercorporation.com.au.
Section 1
It is a mandatory requirement that all bidders for this work complete the Water Corporation’s
Health Safety and Environment (HSE) Prequalification for the applicable tier and achieve a
Grade A or Grade B status. Any application for HSE Prequalification shall be lodged as soon as
possible after bid opening where prequalification has not been submitted previously or
application for a different Tier is required. Failure to satisfy the HSE prequalification
requirements for this bid will automatically disqualify the bidder from the selection process as
the bid will be assessed as non-compliant.
The HSE prequalification application and further details can be found here:
http://www.watercorporation.com.au/home/suppliers/health-and-safety-for-
contractors/prequalification
Note: Although the Water Corporation Prequalification Guidelines identify the required prequalification tier for a
contract based on contract value, the risk assessment for the works is also considered in determining which
prequalification tier is required as a minimum to undertake the works. E.g. works may only have an estimated value
$800k, however the Water Corporation has determined through a risk assessment process that the works are required
to be undertaken by a contractor prequalified for Tier 1 to undertake the works, similarly the assessment of the risks
associated with works valued at $1.2M could be such that it is assessed that the contractor need only be prequalified
for Tier 2 to undertake the works.
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Section 2
Provide in the following table details of your Safety Performance Statistics for the last three
years.
Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate: A Lost Time Injury (LTI) is a work injury
Year: LTIFR: causing the worker to be off work one full
day (or shift) or longer.
Year: LTIFR:
Year: LTIFR: LTIFR is calculated as:
Number of LTIs x 1,000,000
Number of hours worked
Year: Premium
Rate:
Year: Premium
Rate:
Section 3
List the major risks/hazards you anticipate will confront you on this Contract and briefly
describe the controls you intend to implement for each of those risks/hazards. This shall be
submitted in the form of a Contractor’s Risk Register (where required under the Contract), Job
Safety Environment Analysis, Safe Work Procedures (or similar documents) that describe the
risks/hazards and controls. Add attachments as required.
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Section 4
Provide details of company licences held (details of licences held by individual persons are not
required, e.g. crane operator licences):
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7.2 Occupational Safety And Health Management Plan (OSHMP) – Guidelines To
Contractors
The OSHMP must be CONTRACT SPECIFIC, including details of ‘what, who, when or frequency,
and how’. It is NOT intended that the Plan details the Contractor’s OSH Management System,
but may cross-reference OSH procedures or elements of the Contractor’s System.
OSH Communication
• Mandatory - Describe process for OSH meetings (such as toolbox meetings). Advise of
any OSH representatives and OSH committees.
Inductions
• Mandatory - Describe process for inducting employees, subcontractors and visitors.
Sub-contractor management
• Mandatory - Describe process for management of subcontractors including
competency checks, plant and equipment checks, notification of incidents.
• Desirable - Describe any additional strategies for sub-contract management.
Permits
• Mandatory - Describe the use of Permits, e.g.
Confined Space Entry
Clearance to Work
Hot Work
Site Emergencies
• Mandatory - Describe the emergency response procedures for the site, including alarms,
muster points, firefighting and rescue capability.
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OSH Inspections
• Mandatory - Describe the process for conducting OSH inspections, who, what and how
often and detail the process for closing actions arising from inspections.
Dangerous Goods
• Mandatory - Identify and maintain a register of all chemicals that qualify (as per the
regulations) as Dangerous Goods, and manage their transfer, handling, and storage.
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7.3 Contractor OSH Statistics Fact Sheet
It is important that you submit OSH statistics in order to keep Water Corporation informed of all
incidents and injuries which occur on Water Corporation sites and assets. These statistics are used
to identify injury trends and areas of risk.
You will require a login to access the eProcurement Supplier Portal. If you do not have a login,
please email your name, company details, email address and phone number to
[email protected] who will be able to set up a login for you.
If you do have login details, you can access the Supplier Portal by going to
watercorporation.com.au and following the eProcurement link on the homepage.
If you would like to enter statistics for a period outside of the last three months, you need to
change the reporting period. To do this, enter the date in the YYYYMM format in both boxes as
indicated below. For example, to enter OSH statistics for November 2010 you need to enter
201011 in both boxes.
Once you have done this, click on New Search. To enter statistics for a certain Period, click on
the light blue box next to the contract number.
Note. Please refer to the OSH Injury Classification Guideline for further explanation of LTIs and MTIs. The
guidelines are linked next to the ‘Hours Worked and Injuries’ input area..
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When you have entered in the statistics for each category, click on Submit.
This data is required for each Contract every month – this means that you must click on the blue
boxes next to each contract number and complete the information for each contract separately.
It is a requirement that you submit your OSH statistics on a monthly basis, by the 10th day of the
following month. For example; if you are reporting on the OSH statistics for November, you are
required to submit the statistics by the 10th of December.
Note that this information must be submitted even if you did not carry out any work on Water
Corporation sites or assets during a particular month. When this is the case, enter zero (0) in all of
the required fields.
If you have any queries about monthly OSH reporting please contact, Contractor Prequalification
Administrator on (08) 9420 2861. If you require assistance using eProcurement Supplier Portal,
please contact our Business Systems Service Desk on (08) 9420 3535.
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7.4 Health Safety Environment (HSE) Contractor Induction
Note. Where work is required urgently on a site (such as in response to an incident) and all workers have not yet undertaken
their HSE Contractor Induction, speak to your Water Corporation representative about available options.
The HSE Contractor Induction does not take the place of the Site Induction, which needs to be done
in addition to address site specific issues.
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7.5 HSE Contractor Prequalification
Prequalification ensures we only work with contractors with appropriate health, safety and
environmental processes in place, a shared commitment to manage risk and support our vision of
Zero Harm.
Please select an application form based on the value of your contract with us:
• Form 1 - if the maximum value of a single contract with Water Corporation is $100,000
and above
• Form 2 - if the maximum value of a single contract with Water Corporation is $10,000 -
$99,999
• Form 3 - if the maximum value of a single contract with Water Corporation is below
$10,000
Your prequalification rating is valid for three years but if your circumstances change and you can
provide additional information which may improve your rating, you can submit a new application.
More information
Please contact Occupational Safety and Health at Water Corporation on (08) 9420 3095 or email
[email protected]
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Document Revision History
01 Jan 1998 Original version
05 Feb 2004 Revised / issued.
28 Aug 2012 Revised / issued.
23 Apr 2014 Described Health Safety and Environment (HSE) Contractor Prequalification
process. Included section on Safety in Design Reports.
04 Nov 2014 Bidder OSH Submission updated. Refer to MOC #11794263.
20 Jan 2015 Name of S146 updated to S146 Mobile Plant and Trenchless Technology
Operator Licencing and Competency to reflect inclusion of trenchless
technology operator competency requirements. Refer to MOC #11675224.
watercorporation.com.au
ISBN 1 74043 718 7 July 2012
This information is available in alternative formats on request
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