Case Studies

A large Australian retailer was concerned about procurement and contracting process across its organisation as it engaged many contractors that worked independently of any contract or project manager.

The organisation knew they were procuring in different ways across the group and that the inconsistency was concerning because it could introduce risks they weren’t aware of. This poor OHS management in procurement and contracting could also put key licences at risk.

Project Goals

• Analyse the issue across operations, looking at both front-line (shopfront) and behind-the-scenes contractors.
• Put together a redesigned program to provide a deep-dive of critical risk areas.
• Identify issues with P&C.
• Target improvement messages at senior leaders who didn’t have mature OHS knowledge to understand how the risks emerge and how they impact the organisation.

Our insight

The current assurance programs didn’t appear to be offering great value as they addressed only a very small part of risks associated with contractors. They were essentially too broad and too shallow to identify any material issues.

With our in-depth knowledge and long-standing relationship with the client, we were able to understand where internal resources were available to improve P&C. We also leveraged our knowledge of best-practice P&C systems for OHS management, current systems and risk across the retailer’s operations, and the licence requirements that needed to be maintained.

The solution

We recommended various improvements to procurement & contractor systems to ensure:

• Consistency when evaluating contractor OHS capability and performance.
• Improved contractor supervisor and monitoring arrangements.
• Greater guidance for those managing high-risk contracts.
• Better use of resources based on the level of risk.