A complete, editable contractor management plan for Australian businesses: risk-based, with every contract tiered by its risk, and the plan, policy and tools to plan, engage, deliver and evaluate contracted work, and to report it to leadership.
The Contractor Management Plan is a complete, editable contractor management plan for Australian businesses, for australian businesses that use contractors, and the contract, procurement and WHS managers who manage them. It is aligned to the model WHS laws, with notes on how Victoria, Western Australia and the Commonwealth (Comcare) differ, and to ISO 31000, AS/NZS ISO 45001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, with a cross-reference to each. It includes the contractor management plan, a policy, and a roles and accountabilities guide; an Excel risk tiering tool on the same risk matrix as the WHS plans, with what each tier requires; pre-qualification, contract, SWMS review, induction, interface, field verification and non-conformance tools; and a kPI scorecard, approved contractor register, close-out review and a governance dashboard and report. Everything is editable Word or Excel, delivered as an instant download.
Contractor interfaces are one of the most consistent contributors to serious incidents, and contracted work carries more than safety risk: the service, the schedule, the cost, your reputation, the environment and your information. Engaging a contractor never hands your duties to someone else: under the WHS laws more than one business can hold the same duty, each must consult, cooperate and coordinate with the others, and a contract cannot transfer or limit a WHS duty.
This plan manages contracted work as a whole-of-business risk. Each contract is rated once, before it is engaged, for its inherent risk across six areas (health and safety, operations and delivery, financial, reputation, environment, and information and security) on the same risk matrix as the WHS risk register. Its tier, from Tier 1 to Tier 4, sets the level of control at every stage: procurement and pre-qualification, the contract, the contractor's safety plan or SWMS, induction, interfaces and permits, field verification of critical controls, change, non-conformance and stop-work, subcontracting, performance evaluation, close-out, the approved contractor register and reporting to leadership.
It is aligned to the model WHS laws, with notes on how Victoria, Western Australia and the Commonwealth (Comcare) differ, and to ISO 31000, AS/NZS ISO 45001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, with a cross-reference to each. It is written once for the whole of Australia and leaves the detail of each jurisdiction to your WHS management system. It is not ISO certification. Everything is editable Word or Excel, with a setup guide and a 90-day implementation plan. It is a framework to adapt and put into practice with your workers and contractors, not a substitute for doing so.
Delivered as one ZIP download. The files below are editable, and every Word document also comes as a PDF. Each download also includes Read Me First, a Product Overview, the Permitted Use Terms and Version Information (PDF).
| File | Format | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 90-Day Implementation Plan | Word (.docx) | A week-by-week plan for the first 90 days: tier every contract, bring the Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractors under control first, then evaluate and report. |
| Setup Guide | Word (.docx) | What to adapt before use, in order: the plan owner and executive sponsor, scope, your consequence thresholds, the tier table, roles, contract requirements, and every placeholder. |
| Australian Law Cross-Reference | Word (.docx) | Maps the model WHS Act and Regulations provisions that apply to contracted work to where the pack covers each, with how Victoria, Western Australia and the Commonwealth (Comcare) differ. |
| Contractor Management Plan | Word (.docx) | The plan itself: the risk-based approach, what each tier requires at each stage, roles, and how contracted work is planned, engaged, delivered, evaluated and reported to leadership. |
| Contractor Management Policy | Word (.docx) | A short contractor management policy for the chief executive or owner to sign: the commitment, what is expected of everyone, and how the risk sets the level of control. |
| ISO Standards Cross-Reference | Word (.docx) | Maps ISO 31000, AS/NZS ISO 45001 (procurement, contractors and outsourcing), ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO/IEC 27001 to where the pack covers each. Aligned to, not certification. |
| Roles and Accountabilities Guide | Word (.docx) | Who has duties when work is contracted out, the roles from executive sponsor to the contractor's crew, who does what at each stage, the authorities, and officers' due diligence. |
| Contract Requirements Checklist | Word (.docx) | The requirements the contract must contain, by tier: WHS, insurance, licences, environment, information and quality, with a note to check with your legal adviser. |
| Contractor Risk Tiering Tool | Excel (.xlsx) | An Excel tool that rates each contract's inherent risk across six areas on the risk matrix and gives its tier, with the consequence scales and what each tier requires. |
| Need, Scope and Risk Brief | Word (.docx) | Records why the work is needed, whether the hazard can be designed out, the scope and interfaces, the risk tier and the procurement route, before going to market. |
| Contractor Safety Management Plan and SWMS Review Checklist | Word (.docx) | A checklist for reviewing a contractor's safety management plan or SWMS before mobilisation, with the controls to expect for each critical risk activity. |
| Mobilisation and Induction Checklist | Word (.docx) | What must be in place before a contractor starts, by tier, the mobilisation meeting, and the induction for each of their workers, signed. |
| Pre-qualification Evaluation Matrix | Excel (.xlsx) | An Excel matrix to compare contractors: pass or fail gates, then weighted scores, so the choice rests on value and risk, not price alone. |
| Pre-qualification Questionnaire | Word (.docx) | A pre-qualification questionnaire for contractors: capability, capacity, insurances, licences, WHS, quality, environment, information, financial stability and references, by tier. |
| Contract Change Risk Check | Word (.docx) | Assesses a change to contracted work before it is made, with the change questions, whether the tier rises, and the controls to add. |
| Contractor Non-conformance Report | Word (.docx) | Records one non-conformance from finding to verified close: what was found, the cause, the corrective actions and the check. |
| Contractor Non-conformance and Stop-work Procedure | Word (.docx) | How unsafe work is stopped, how a non-conformance is graded Critical, Major or Minor, who it is escalated to, and who may restart the work. |
| Interface and Coordination Agreement | Word (.docx) | A written agreement on how the business and the contractor consult, cooperate and coordinate: who controls what, sharing information, meetings and stopping work. |
| Site Monitoring and Field Verification Checklist | Word (.docx) | A field checklist to verify contractors' controls are in place and working, on the schedule the tier sets, with the critical controls for each critical risk activity. |
| Subcontractor Approval Form | Word (.docx) | Approves a subcontractor before it starts: tiered, pre-qualified, insured, licensed, covered by the plan and the interface agreement. |
| Approved Contractor Register | Excel (.xlsx) | An Excel register of approved contractors: tier, status, insurance and licence expiry, requalification dates and performance, with overdue dates flagged. |
| Close-out and Lessons Learned Review | Word (.docx) | Closes out a contract, from accepted works and records to removed access and returned information, and captures the lessons learned. |
| Contractor Governance Dashboard | Excel (.xlsx) | An Excel dashboard of lead and lag indicators for contracted work, quarter by quarter, with the Tier 1 and 2 contracts listed by name. |
| Contractor Governance Report | Word (.docx) | The quarterly report to leadership: where the contracted risk is, whether the controls are working, what went wrong, the lessons, and the decisions needed. |
| Contractor KPI Scorecard | Excel (.xlsx) | An Excel scorecard of weighted KPIs across safety, quality, schedule, cost and behaviour, lead and lag, with a total and a rating band. |
| Contractor Performance Evaluation | Word (.docx) | Evaluates the contractor across safety, quality, schedule, cost and behaviour, with the outcome for the approved contractor register. |
The plan is the core; each folder is one stage of the contractor lifecycle. The tier set in the first stage decides how much each later stage needs, and what is learned at close-out feeds back into the next contract.
Before you adopt it, adapt the plan to:
Before you use it
You need to manage the risks of the work you contract out, and a written plan is the clearest way to show how you do it. Under the WHS laws, engaging a contractor does not hand your duty to them: more than one business can hold the same duty, each must consult, cooperate and coordinate with the others, and a contract term that tries to transfer or limit a WHS duty has no effect. On a construction project, the principal contractor must also prepare a written WHS management plan for the workplace. The plan sets out how you meet these duties and who does what, and gives you the records that show it.
It should follow the contract from start to finish: the need and scope, a risk rating that sets how much control the contract needs, procurement and pre-qualification, the contract requirements, review of the contractor's safety plan or SWMS, induction and site access, how the businesses consult, cooperate and coordinate, supervision and field verification of the critical controls, change, non-conformance and stop-work, subcontracting, performance evaluation, close-out and lessons learned, and reporting to leadership. This plan has a part for each, with the tools to do it.
Rating each contract, before it is engaged, for the risk of the work itself, and using the rating to decide how much control it needs. This plan rates the worst credible consequence in six areas, from health and safety to information security, and the likelihood, on the same risk matrix as the WHS risk register. The level gives the tier: Tier 1 work gets full pre-qualification, a written interface agreement, daily supervision and monthly evaluation; Tier 4 work gets basic checks. Work with a critical risk activity, such as work at height or in a confined space, is never below Tier 2.
No. Health and safety is one of six risk areas. The plan also covers operations and delivery, cost, reputation, the environment and information security, because contracted work can go wrong in all of them, and the KPI scorecard measures safety, quality, schedule, cost and behaviour.
All of Australia. It is written to the model WHS laws, which most jurisdictions have adopted, with notes on how Victoria (with its own OHS laws), Western Australia and the Commonwealth (Comcare) differ. For the detail of your jurisdiction, such as notifying the regulator, it points to the WHS or OHS laws where you operate and to your own WHS management system.
No. No plan can do that on its own. Your duties are met by managing the risks of the work in your actual workplaces, so far as is reasonably practicable, with your workers and your contractors. The plan gives you the structure and the tools to do that, and a record that you have. Using the plan does not by itself make a workplace compliant with WHS or OHS laws, it does not transfer any duty to a contractor, and it is not ISO certification. It supports the work of managing the risks of contracted work; it is not legal advice.
No. The plan is aligned to ISO 31000 for the risk method, to AS/NZS ISO 45001 for procurement, contractors and outsourcing, and to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 where they apply, with a cross-reference to each. Certification is done by an independent certification body, against the standard itself.
It sits under your WHS management system. Our NSW WHS Management Plan states the minimum requirements for contractors so it stands alone; this plan goes further, for businesses that use contractors often or for higher-risk work. Contractors work inside your permit, isolation, incident and change processes. See the WHS Management Plan.
Usually, yes. The plan only works when the people who run it know how. The Workplace Health and Safety Induction covers contractors' workers, the Risk Management packages cover contract managers, practitioners and officers, the Critical Control Management packages cover verifying critical controls in the field, and the toolbox talks brief contractors' crews on the critical risk activities. See the Risk Management training packages.
The plan is licensed for internal use by the purchasing organisation. A WHS or HR adviser can set it up for a client that has bought it; using it with other clients needs our written permission. The simplest way is for each client to buy its own copy, which you then adapt with them.
Yes. Every document is supplied in Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx), so you can add your logo, change the wording and adapt it to your workplace. The copyright notice must stay.
Yes. The plan must be adapted to your organisation, your work and the hazards you find, in consultation with your workers, before it is adopted. The setup guide lists what to change, and the 90-day implementation plan the order to do it in.
Yes. Every price in the store includes GST, so $349.00 is the total, including $31.73 GST. Your receipt is a tax invoice showing the GST.
As a ZIP download. Card purchases can be downloaded straight away from the confirmation page and by a link we email you. Download links expire after 14 days for security; you can request a new one at any time.
Yes. Use Request an Invoice to order through your normal procurement process, with a purchase order number and quantities if you need them. The files are released once payment is confirmed.
Yes, across your own organisation. The documents are licensed for internal use by the purchasing organisation. A consultant, labour hire business or training provider supplying them to clients needs separate written permission.
Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected. See the Refund Policy for how we handle a document that is faulty, not as described, or not what you ordered.
Licence and legal information here is general. It may not be correct in your jurisdiction: please check with your local WHS or OHS regulator.
Ordering for a business or several sites? Request an invoice. Other questions: contact us.
The plan sets up the system; training gives the people who run it what they need. The induction covers contractors' workers, the Risk Management packages cover contract managers, practitioners and officers, the Critical Control Management packages cover verifying critical controls in the field, and the toolbox talks brief contractors' crews on the critical risk activities.
A ready-made, customisable health and safety induction for new workers, with marked places for your own logo, contacts, site rules and procedures.
For supervisors and managers who plan the work, lead the risk assessment and decide whether a job goes ahead.
A full day on broad-brush and task risk assessment, the hierarchy of control, risk registers and management of change.
For executives and directors: risk appetite, risk reporting, assurance and the questions that test whether controls are working.
For supervisors and managers who verify critical controls in the field and act when one fails.
A full day on bowtie analysis, selecting critical controls, performance standards and verification programs.
For workers who use ladders, platforms, roofs or anything off the ground: why falls kill, and the order of controls that prevents them.
For workers who could come across a tank, pit, silo or vessel: how to recognise a confined space, and why you never enter one without a permit.
For workers who weld, cut, grind or braze, and the people around them: how hot work starts fires and explosions, and the permit, fire watch and fume controls.
For workers who clean, clear, maintain or adjust plant: why every energy source must be isolated, locked and proved dead before hands go in.
For workers on sites where loads are lifted: the lift plan, exclusion zones, checking lifting gear, and the rule that nobody goes under a suspended load.
For anyone who works around forklifts, trucks, loaders or utes: how people are hit by mobile equipment, and the habits that keep pedestrians and machines apart.