ANALYSIS AND VENDOR RATING

In brief, the requirements indicated above are connected to the control activities aimed at allowing commercial relationships with suppliers and signing safe commercial agreements, in order to guarantee an excellent balance among costs, times, and quality.

The management of this process, in the scope of a broader security business plan, allows a constant vendor verification and control through the following specific activities:

Qualification

• The preventive activity performed before supply, to verify the technical and professional skills of the supplier, as well as the corporate solidity and assets

Control and monitoring

• Constant control of contract specifications, with particular attention to the quality of the products/services offered and the corporate performance, taking into consideration also external scenarios.

The number of companies which analyze in scientific manner their suppliers is increasing rapidly. The correct selection and constant monitoring of suppliers allows companies to guarantee their own security, nationally and internationally. With an increasingly higher risk exposure, companies are thus allowed to concentrate once more on their core business.

Another essential aspect for the control and monitoring of suppliers is the full compliance with the specific regulations regarding health and safety at workplace (Legislative Degree 81/2008 “Consolidated Law on the protection of health and safety in workplaces”).

In this regard, companies have many obligations: training, analysis of risks for the health and safety of workers (from the single activities to those derived from the involvement of workers from contractors and subcontractors), identification of the responsibility chain starting from the employer, production of protection devices, and surveillance of work activities.

The evaluation of contractors in terms of safety can be related to the formal organization of security, in other words to have those specific elements and those organizational and procedural aspects which can guarantee good management practices as well as the compliance with the specific regulations; below is a list of some of the parameters identified:

In this regard, SSI acts as the interface between client and supplier, in order to verify the full compliance with the specific regulations and as advisory support for drafting and controlling the related documents such as:

• Elaboration of the Operational Safety Plan;
• Elaboration of the Safety Plan of Building Sites;
• Training and periodical updating of personnel regarding building site organization, work methods, and use of work equipment;
• Statistics of injuries.

Conclusions

An effective and timely evaluation of the potentialities and performance of suppliers is the prerequisite for a correct management of the relationship with them and for the search of better supply services.