Responsibilities
Many companies now rely on the permanent presence of contractors on their sites to carry out a variety of routine activities. These can include:
- cleaning
- security
- maintenance
- operation of specific plant such as cooling towers or effluent plant
All of these can have clear and significant environmental impacts and will, therefore, need specific environmental management activity.
The acts or omissions of your contractors could well lead to the emission of pollution from your site or of any number of breaches of environmental laws.
There is no legal prohibition on contracting out environmentally sensitive activities on a site. However, the ultimate legal responsibility remains with the site operator.
Links to health and safety requirements
There are many health and safety issues involved in the work of contractors on a site. These are described in the Health and Safety Guide.
Splits in responsibilities ...
The legal responsibility for environmental compliance rests with the site operator. Any arrangements between you and your contractors need to spell out clearly what is expected and ideally be formalised as part of the contract.
For example, will the contractor (i) supply their own skip for waste produced during work or (ii) will you allow them to use an existing route for solid waste produced by the activities of your own employees?
In the case of option (i), the contractor may be in full control of organising the waste disposal operation, but the material is still from your site and you have a duty of care. You need to know that the carriers and disposers are correctly licensed and that the waste is being handled and disposed of in accordance with the relevant regulations.
In the case of (ii), you and your contractor need to be clear about the kind of material which can be removed via the disposal route you’ve agreed to use. The waste which the contractor is going to add to yours must be compatible and capable of being conveyed and disposed of under the European Waste Catalogue code being used. Any deviation from the original composition must be pointed out to your waste carrier and appropriate changes made.
The level of detail included in any written procedures will need to be in proportion to the magnitude of the environmental impacts which can arise from the work in question.
Information on licensed waste carriers, the European Waste Catalogue and related information can be found on the Environment Agency website.
When you’re not around ...
As well as adequate training and information, contractors need to be given clear guidance as to their responsibilities if they are required to work outside the direct supervision of their customers.
They will need to understand their responsibilities regarding the work in hand and the relevant environmental aspects and impacts. They must also be aware of relevant emergency procedures and have clear instructions regarding communicating with you in the case of an emergency.
Training issues
Training of contractors is as important as training your own employees. Induction training regarding environmental issues is an important first step. Often environmental training is integrated with contractors’ health and safety induction sessions.
Regular repeat training sessions should be carried out. In the case of contractors who regularly work on your site for short periods, training is still required.
For example, EA or sewerage undertakers’ staff who regularly visit to take water samples still need to understand your site’s environmental and health and safety requirements.
It is possible for staff on a collection round to be substituted without notifying all the sites they visit. If this happens on your site, you will need to decide whether they can be refused entry or if a member of your staff should accompany them on visits until they can be put through your company’s induction procedure.