Subcontractor Safety

Using fewer subcontractors

Because HSM's own crews handle electrical, mechanical, low voltage and security, interior systems, carpentry and millwork, painting, and doors and hardware, most sites involve far fewer outside companies than usual. That alone reduces safety risk. There are fewer unfamiliar people, fewer handoffs and fewer sets of rules to coordinate.

Those that remain are chosen with the same care as our own hiring.

Prequalification

When we do need a specialty subcontractor, we look at their safety record and practices before awarding work. We ask how they train and supervise their people, how they plan work and how they respond when something goes wrong. A company that cannot show a sound approach does not work on our sites.

Insurance and worker compensation coverage are also confirmed before a subcontractor starts, so everyone on site is properly covered.

Orientation and the same rules

Every subcontractor worker receives the same site orientation as our own employees. They are told about site rules, emergency procedures, hazard reporting and the right to stop unsafe work.

Their workers are expected to join toolbox talks and hazard assessments in the same way as ours, so no one is left outside the safety culture of the site.

• Same hazard assessment expectations
• Same stop-work authority
• Same housekeeping and fire prevention standards
• Same reporting of incidents and near misses

Supervision and follow-up

Our project managers and trade leads coordinate subcontractor work and watch how it is carried out. If a problem appears, we address it with the subcontractor right away. Serious or repeated failures to follow the rules can end their involvement on the project.

Responsibility for site safety stays with HSM as the constructor of record, so we do not treat it as someone else's problem.

Clear contracts and scopes of work help too. When everyone knows who is responsible for what, fewer hazards fall into the gaps between companies.