Construction
Several companies working at the same site
When three companies share a site, the paperwork stops belonging to each of them and starts belonging to the place.
A warehouse where an electrician, a cleaning company and a machine manufacturer's technician are all working at once. Each has their own rules, training and insurance, and each knows their job. What none of them knows is what the other two are doing — and that is where things happen.
What each side owes, and almost nobody delivers in full
| Item | The host | The visiting company |
|---|---|---|
| Site risks | Theirs, in writing | Read them and say whether they are affected |
| Risks brought in | Demand them before entry | Those of THEIR work, not generic ones |
| Agreed measures | Write them down | Confirm them and pass them to their people |
| Who is in charge if something happens | Name them | Know who to call |
| Each person's paperwork | Check it on entry | Have it current beforehand, not at the gate |
Important
The most repeated failure is not skipping the paperwork: **it is asking once, at company level, and never looking at the people again**. The company delivered its documentation in January, and in July sends two new workers nobody has checked. Because the control happened at company level rather than person level, there are people working on site with nothing on record — and if something happens, that is precisely what gets examined.
Making it sustainable rather than torture
- 1
One request per company, with the list of what is needed
The same for all, so nobody negotiates their own list.
- 2
And inside it, one folder per person
That is what lets you say «this person may enter» without reviewing everything again.
- 3
Expiry dates on whatever expires
Training, medicals, insurance: nearly all of it expires.
- 4
And the gate as the last filter, not the only one
If the real control happens at the gate, someone will always be arguing with the guard.
Watch out
There is a chain almost nobody walks to the end: **the subcontractor's subcontractor**. You hire A, A brings in B for part of it, and B brings a self-employed worker on a Tuesday. When someone asks who was there that Tuesday, the honest answer is usually that nobody knows. Holding it together does not need a complicated system: it needs the duty to report who enters written into every contract down the chain, and entering unreported to carry a real consequence.
What to keep afterwards
Worth knowing
Which coordination duties apply, who holds the site, who takes on supervision and exactly what documentation must be exchanged is set by the prevention rules and depends on the relationship between the companies. **Your prevention service settles that**; here we cover the documentary side, which is what collapses under its own weight when nobody organises it.
›Is the company handing over its documentation enough?
Not if they then send people who were not in that handover. Useful control is per person.
›What about self-employed workers here for a day?
Same criterion. A day is ample time for something to happen.
›How long do I keep all this?
Longer than the job lasts. What gets asked after an accident arrives years later.
A real case
The situation
A company handed over its documentation in January and in July sends two new workers.
What you do
- Keeps a folder per person as well as per company
- Checks on each worker's onboarding, not only the company's
What you get
There stop being people on site with nothing on record.
The situation
After an incident you are asked who was in the warehouse that Tuesday and nobody knows.
What you do
- Logs daily who enters, including self-employed workers and technical visits
What you get
The question is answered with a list rather than a reconstruction.
The situation
The subcontractor brings in another company for part of the job and does not report it.
What you do
- Passes the duty to report who enters down the chain by contract
What you get
Entering unreported stops being free and the chain can be walked end to end.
The situation
Four firms work at once and nobody sees the whole.
What you do
- Checks everyone's status on one screen
What you get
The whole is visible without opening four folders.
The situation
Each firm says they are ready and one is not.
What you do
- Checks per person and per machine
What you get
What actually comes in is what gets checked.
The situation
Two firms rely on the same subcontractor.
What you do
- Records which firms are declared per contract
What you get
The overlap surfaces before the day.
This article answers
- coordinating contractors on one site
- several subcontractors on the same job
- what paperwork to ask a visiting company for
- information exchange between concurrent companies