Prequalification sites (often referred to as Pre-Qual) are online websites that analyze a company’s safety programs, training, and history for larger companies to select their contractors. There are many sites but the largest and most common sites are ISNetworld©, Avetta©, and PEC-Safety©. Below are both benefits and drawbacks of utilizing Pre-Qual.
There are many benefits to utilizing a Pre-Qual service as a contractor! The largest benefit is the ease of the hiring company to review your safety program/history and streamline the process of approving you for a contract. Hiring companies can easily review programs, training records, and safety statistics that a company uploads to their account. Should your records and statistics meet the criteria of the hiring client, your company will be approved.
Another great benefit is the easy transferability of your records to different hiring clients. Various potential hiring clients can connect with you, and once your account is completed, and review and potentially approve your account in a short amount of time which will allow your company to get out on the jobsite.
Keeping track of your safety statistics, training, and programs is also another benefit of Pre-Qual. Submitting your records and statistics to the sites is a great way to keep track of them and the easy-to-use interfaces allow for easy access of them if the need should arise.
While there are definite benefits to utilizing a Pre-Qual site, there are also potential drawbacks. Chief amongst them being the grading curve that some hiring clients adhere to. Some hiring clients have restrictions for clients with certain OSHA Citations, Incidents, or Safety Statistic Rates that can disqualify a company from consideration for jobs. The solution to these items is improving the safety culture and overall program of a company which unfortunately can take time to be reflected in some of the previously mentioned items that hiring companies can scrutinize.
Another potential drawback is the lengthy submittal process and subscription fees for the Pre-Qual sites. It will take a decent amount of time and effort to complete a submittal. From simple company information to written program and quarterly statistic information, the account will be an in-depth process that someone familiar with safety at your company will undertake. The Pre-Qual sites will also require annual subscription fees for the service, which can be a burden on some companies.
Lancaster Safety Consulting, Inc. can provide assistance with maintaining your prequalification accounts to help maintain compliance with customers.