Sub-Contractor Safety Statements: What Main Contractors Must Check Before Work Begins
Failing to check sub-contractors' safety documentation is one of the most common gaps on Irish construction sites.
# Sub-Contractor Safety Statements: What Main Contractors Must Check Before Work Begins One of the most common gaps in safety management on Irish construction sites is the failure to properly check sub-contractors' safety documentation before allowing them to start work. Main contractors often assume that because a sub-contractor has been used before, or because they hold a Safe-T-Cert accreditation, their Safety Statement and risk assessments are adequate. This assumption can be costly. This guide explains what Irish law requires of main contractors when engaging sub-contractors, what documentation must be checked, how to assess whether a sub-contractor's Safety Statement is fit for purpose, and what to do when it is not. ## The Legal Basis The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 places a duty on every employer to manage their work activities in a way that does not put others at risk. Section 12 of the Act specifically addresses the duties of persons who control a place of work. Where a main contractor controls a construction site, they have a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the place of work is safe for all persons working there, including sub-contractors and their employees. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 go further. Regulation 16 requires every contractor to cooperate with the PSCS and to comply with directions given by the PSCS for the purpose of managing safety on site. Regulation 17 requires contractors to provide the PSCS with relevant information about the risks their work creates and the measures they have in place to control those risks. In practice, this means that before a sub-contractor starts work on site, the main contractor and the PSCS must have sight of the sub-contractor's Safety Statement, their risk assessments for the work they will carry out, and their method statements. This is not optional. It is a legal requirement. ## What Documentation Should Be Requested Before a sub-contractor starts work on your site, you should request and review the following documentation. **Safety Statement.** The sub-contractor's Safety Statement must be specific to their business and the type of work they carry out. It must identify the hazards in their work, assess the risks, and set out the control measures in place. A generic Safety Statement that has not been adapted to the sub-contractor's actual activities is not adequate. **Risk Assessments.** The sub-contractor must provide risk assessments for the specific work they will carry out on your site. These must be specific to the tasks involved, not generic assessments that could apply to any construction activity. If the sub-contractor is carrying out multiple distinct activities, there should be a separate risk assessment for each. **Method Statements.** For higher-risk activities, a method statement setting out step by step how the work will be carried out safely should accompany the risk assessment. Together, the risk assessment and method statement form what is commonly known as a RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statement). **Safe Pass Cards.** All workers on Irish construction sites must hold a valid Safe Pass card. The main contractor should request a list of all sub-contractor employees who will work on site, together with their Safe Pass card numbers and expiry dates. **CSCS Cards.** Workers carrying out specific activities, such as operating plant, erecting scaffolding, or carrying out groundworks, must hold the relevant CSCS card. The main contractor should check that all sub-contractor workers have the appropriate cards for the tasks they will carry out. **Insurance Certificates.** Public liability insurance and employers' liability insurance certificates should be requested and checked for validity. The level of cover should be appropriate to the scale and nature of the work. **Safe-T-Cert or Equivalent.** While not a legal requirement, Safe-T-Cert accreditation or an equivalent third-party safety management system assessment provides additional assurance that the sub-contractor has adequate safety management systems in place. ## How to Assess Whether a Safety Statement Is Adequate Receiving a Safety Statement from a sub-contractor is only the first step. You must also assess whether it is adequate. A Safety Statement that is clearly generic, out of date, or not specific to the work being carried out on your site is not adequate, and allowing a sub-contractor to start work on the basis of an inadequate Safety Statement exposes you to legal liability. When reviewing a sub-contractor's Safety Statement, look for the following. **Specificity.** Does the Safety Statement identify the hazards that are actually present in the sub-contractor's work? A bricklayer's Safety Statement should identify hazards such as working at height, manual handling, cement dermatitis, and silica dust. If it does not mention these hazards, it has not been prepared with the sub-contractor's actual work in mind. **Currency.** When was the Safety Statement last reviewed and updated? The 2005 Act requires Safety Statements to be reviewed after any significant change to the workplace and at regular intervals. A Safety Statement that has not been reviewed in several years is unlikely to reflect current working practices or current legislation. **Completeness.** Does the Safety Statement cover all the work the sub-contractor will carry out on your site? If the sub-contractor is being engaged to carry out work that is not covered by their Safety Statement, they must update it before starting work. **Control measures.** Are the control measures described in the Safety Statement specific and practical? Vague statements such as "appropriate PPE will be provided" or "workers will be trained" are not adequate. The Safety Statement should specify what PPE is required for each hazard, what training has been provided, and how compliance will be monitored. ## What to Do When Documentation Is Inadequate If a sub-contractor's Safety Statement or risk assessments are inadequate, you have a number of options. **Return the documentation and request a revision.** This is the most common approach. Explain specifically what is missing or inadequate and give the sub-contractor a reasonable time to revise and resubmit. Do not allow work to start until the revised documentation has been reviewed and accepted. **Provide assistance.** For smaller sub-contractors who may not have the resources to prepare adequate documentation themselves, you may choose to provide assistance, for example by providing a template risk assessment that they can adapt to their specific activities. This is a pragmatic approach that is commonly used on larger projects. **Refuse to allow work to start.** If a sub-contractor is unable or unwilling to provide adequate safety documentation, you are entitled to refuse them access to the site. This is a last resort, but it is sometimes necessary. The cost of a delay is always less than the cost of a serious accident. ## Keeping Records The main contractor must keep records of all safety documentation received from sub-contractors. These records must be available for inspection by the HSA at any time. If an accident occurs on site and the HSA investigates, one of the first things they will ask for is evidence that the main contractor checked the sub-contractor's safety documentation before allowing them to start work. Records should include the date the documentation was received, who reviewed it, what the outcome of the review was, and any correspondence with the sub-contractor about deficiencies. A simple spreadsheet tracking the status of each sub-contractor's documentation is a practical tool for managing this. ## The PSCS Coordination Role On notifiable projects, the PSCS has a specific responsibility to coordinate safety across all contractors on site. This includes ensuring that sub-contractors' risk assessments and method statements are compatible with the Construction Stage Safety and Health Plan and with the activities of other contractors on site. The PSCS should review sub-contractor RAMS before work starts and identify any conflicts or gaps. For example, if two sub-contractors are working in the same area at the same time, the PSCS must ensure that their activities do not create risks for each other. This coordination role is one of the most important functions of the PSCS and is one that is frequently under-resourced on Irish construction projects. ## A Practical Pre-Start Checklist Before any sub-contractor starts work on your site, work through the following checklist. Has the sub-contractor provided a current Safety Statement that is specific to their work? Have they provided risk assessments and method statements for the specific activities they will carry out on your site? Have all workers' Safe Pass and CSCS cards been checked and recorded? Have insurance certificates been received and checked? Has the sub-contractor been briefed on the site-specific hazards and the Construction Stage Safety and Health Plan? Have all workers completed the site induction? Only when all of these steps have been completed should a sub-contractor be allowed to start work. This process takes time, but it is time well spent. A sub-contractor who starts work without adequate safety documentation is a liability, both legally and in terms of the risk they create for other workers on site. If you need support developing a sub-contractor management process, reviewing sub-contractor safety documentation, or providing PSCS services on your project in Leinster, Safety Check can help. Contact us to discuss your requirements.