Contractor safety prequalification that checks every crew against its documents before dispatch, not at the site gate
No crew dispatched on an expired passport, with 30 days’ warning on every certificate.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Before a contractor works on a utility’s network, the contractor safety team has to know the firm is insured to the contract limits, licensed, has a written safety programme, has an acceptable safety record — EMR, TRIR, DART, fatalities — and that every person on the crew holds the cards the work needs. A prequalification package is 9–15 PDFs: certificates of insurance, the rating letter, three years of injury log summaries, the licence, the safety manual, training cards, a method statement and the questionnaire. A reviewer reads them once, at onboarding.
Then each document expires on its own date, and nobody watches thousands of dates every day. The planner books the crew in the work management system while the passport lives somewhere else, so a crew can be dispatched on a lapsed certificate. For electric work, 29 CFR 1910.269(a)(3) makes the utility, as host employer, tell each contractor the hazards it knows of before work starts. Under OSHA’s multi-employer citation policy, the utility can be cited as the controlling employer for a contractor’s hazard.
Estimated split for one new contractor’s prequalification, in calendar days, by hand and with the solution. The review itself takes about half a day by hand (9–15 documents at 15–30 minutes each) and a 19-minute median with the agents; the contractor’s own time to close the gaps barely changes.
Six agents read every document, check it against the limits, watch every date and gate the work orders; the safety manager signs.
Lumina Utilities hires 184 contractors for line work, water mains, substations, vegetation, traffic control and plant work. On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Halvorsen Line Services’ insurance has 10 days left, and its crew is booked for energized work on Feeder RW-07 on October 27. Here is what happens, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Nadia owns 184 passports and signs every grade. Halvorsen Line Services, passport LU-CP-0417, is endorsed for overhead distribution, energized ≤ 35 kV, and underground cable and jointing. Its safety record sits inside Lumina’s limits: EMR 0.82 against 1.00, 3-year TRIR 2.1 against 2.5, DART 1.1 against 1.5, no fatalities in 2023–2025. All 12 stamps are verified — insurance, rating letter, injury logs, licence, three crew-training stamps, dielectric tests, the method statement and the safety programme.
“Valid. All 12 stamps verified. Last check yesterday 07:00 · today’s check runs at 07:00.”
The general liability and umbrella stamp opens certificate COI-HLS-2025-11 from Pell & Arden Insurance Brokers: Northgate Mutual, policy GL-4471-2209 at $5,000,000 each occurrence and umbrella UM-4471-0918 at $10,000,000, Lumina named as additional insured. The policy period, Oct 23, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026, is highlighted on the page, beside what the agents checked.
What the agents checked: “Each occurrence ≥ $5M ✓ · Umbrella ≥ $10M ✓ · Lumina named additional insured ✓ · Expires Oct 23, 2026 · 10 days”
The morning check reads 3,912 dates on 184 passports and compares each with today. Four documents reach 30 days and one reaches 10: Halvorsen’s certificate ends Oct 23, so its stamp turns amber. The 10-day reminder goes to Tom Ekwueme, Halvorsen’s Safety Director, and to the broker, Joanna Pell, with the renewal link and the limits the renewal must meet.
From the reminder: “Work order WO-77580 (energized reconductoring, Feeder RW-07) starts on Tuesday, October 27. Unless a renewed certificate is verified, it will be held at 00:00 on October 24.”
Work order WO-77580 — energized reconductoring of 1.8 km on Feeder RW-07, Crew 3, five lineworkers — starts Tuesday Oct 27 at 07:00, four days after the certificate ends. The gate marks it at risk. The expiry calendar shows the same date from the other side: 37 documents in the next 30 days across 26 contractors, 10 of them inside 10 days.
From the run log: “WO-77580 starts Oct 27, after the expiry” — “at risk — held at 00:00 on Oct 24 unless the renewal is verified.”
Joanna Pell sends renewal COI-HLS-2026-10, policy GL-4471-2310. The document reader checks it: the same insured and address, $5M each occurrence and a $10M umbrella, Lumina named additional insured, and no gap in cover — Oct 23, 2026 to Oct 23, 2027. Nadia accepts it at 10:31. The stamp is verified to Oct 23, 2027 and WO-77580 is cleared.
The agents report what they found; only Nadia accepts a document.
Brookfield Civil Works’ general liability certificate, COI-BCW-2025-09, expired on Oct 9. The 30-day reminder went out on Sep 9 and the 10-day reminder on Sep 29, and no renewal came. The passport is blocked, and WO-77412 — replace 300 mm water main, Alder Street, starting Wed Oct 14 at 07:00 — is held.
“Blocked. General liability certificate expired Oct 9. Work orders for this contractor are held.”
Every contractor work order from Oct 13 to Oct 27 is read from the work management system. With Halvorsen cleared, 260 are cleared, 5 at risk and 3 held — Brookfield’s water main, Kestrel Traffic Control’s lane closure on an auto liability certificate that expired Oct 11, and Oakfield Pole Testing’s pole inspection on Feeder MV-12, whose EMR of 1.42 fails the overhead limit. Each row says why, and at-risk rows carry a reminder button.
“Gate runs at 07:00 and whenever a work order is booked · holds lift only on a verified document or an HSE director override”
Nadia can request an override for a held work order, but it goes to Marcus Bell with a written reason and an end date, and the work order stays held until he decides. On Oct 12 he had already declined one for WO-77412.
Marcus Bell declined the override for WO-77412: “No work without cover.”
Tallis Vegetation Services sent 11 documents through the contractor portal to work near energized lines and run its own traffic control. The agents read 149 pages and recompute TRIR and DART from the cases and hours: 3-year TRIR 2.6, DART 1.4, no fatalities. Four things fall short — EMR 1.18 against 1.00, an umbrella of $5M against $10M, 19 of 22 climbers with a line-clearance tree trimmer certificate, and 13 of 15 safety programme elements. The proposed grade: conditional for vegetation, pass for traffic control.
Nadia signs the grade with its meaning: “I reviewed the documents and the agents’ checks and approve this grade.”
The letter to Ines Carvalho, Tallis’ HSE Coordinator, lists four gaps: raise the umbrella to $10M before the first work order; a corrective action plan for the EMR of 1.18 by Nov 12; line-clearance tree trimmer certificates for J. Rivera, M. Toft and S. Kaur before they work on a Lumina feeder; and minimum approach distances and electrical hazard training added to the safety programme by Nov 12. Nadia can edit anything before she sends it through the portal.
“Until the umbrella certificate is verified, no vegetation work order near energized lines can start. Traffic control work can be booked now.”
The same contractor, seen by the five people who answer for it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six agents read every document, check it against the limits, watch every date and gate the work orders; the safety manager signs.
Reads certificates of insurance, rating letters, injury logs, licences, training cards and method statements, and extracts each date, limit and rate with its source passage — insured, insurer, policy number, limits, period and additional insured; EMR and rating year; cases and hours, from which it recomputes TRIR and DART.
Compares EMR, 3-year TRIR, DART, fatalities, insurance limits and required training with Lumina’s limits for each work type the contractor asks for, and grades pass, conditional or fail with the reason for each grade.
Matches each crew roster with the training cards the work type needs, person by person, on the start day — qualified electrical worker, first aid & CPR, pole-top and bucket rescue, confined space, flagger, line-clearance tree trimmer — and lists anyone who is not covered.
Every morning at 07:00 compares every date on every passport with today: sends the first reminder to the contractor and its broker at 30 days, turns the stamp amber and sends the second at 10 days, and turns it red at expiry and tells the work-order gate.
Each morning and whenever a work order is booked, checks every contractor work order in the next 14 days against the passport for its work type and start date. Holds work that is not covered in the work management system and tells the planner why; marks work at risk when a stamp ends before the start.
From the failed and conditional checks, drafts a short letter to the contractor in plain words: one numbered gap per check, the rule, the document it came from and a due date.
Signs grades; HSE director alone releases a hold. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask about any contractor, document or work order — or say what to change. Every answer points to the document behind it.
Which crews can’t start in the next two weeks?
3 work orders are held and 6 are at risk of the 268 booked. Held: WO-77412 Brookfield, general liability expired Oct 9; WO-77455 Kestrel, auto liability expired Oct 11; WO-77501 Oakfield, EMR 1.42. At risk: Halvorsen’s WO-77580 starts Oct 27, after its certificate ends on Oct 23.
Why is Halvorsen’s insurance stamp amber?
Their general liability and umbrella policies with Northgate Mutual end on Oct 23, 2026 — 10 days from today. This morning’s check turned the stamp amber and sent the 10-day reminder to Tom Ekwueme and their broker, Joanna Pell. Their safety record is well inside the limits: EMR 0.82, 3-year TRIR 2.1.
Tighten the EMR limit for energized work to 0.90
Done, as a draft for your sign-off. Energized overhead, underground and substation work: EMR ≤ 0.90 (from 1.00). One current contractor would move to conditional: Greystone Directional Drilling (0.97, underground cable). Halvorsen (0.82) and Quarry Lane (0.88) stay a pass.
Draft the gap letter for Tallis Vegetation
Drafted. 4 gaps: umbrella $5M against $10M required, EMR 1.18 needs a corrective action plan, 3 climbers without line-clearance certificates, and 2 missing programme sections. Each gap names the rule and a due date; it is waiting for you to send.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
The limits by work type, the insurance minimums, the reminder clock and the gate are settings, and changing them needs the HSE director’s sign-off.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| EMR limit, energized overhead, underground and substation work | 1.00 | Set per work type — 1.00 for energized and vegetation work, 1.10 for civil, water mains, meter and traffic work; 1.00–1.25 is conditional with a corrective action plan, above 1.25 fails |
| 3-year TRIR limit | 2.5 | 2.5 for overhead, underground cable and substation · 3.0 for vegetation, civil, water mains, meter and traffic work |
| DART limit | 1.5 | 1.5 for overhead, underground cable and substation · 2.0 for the other work types |
| Insurance minimums, general liability and umbrella | $5M each occurrence · $10M umbrella | $5M and $10M for energized and vegetation work · $5M and $5M for civil and water · $2M and no umbrella for meter and traffic work |
| Required training, overhead distribution | Qualified electrical worker · first aid & CPR · pole-top and bucket rescue | Set per work type, e.g. confined space entry, trench safety and water hygiene card for water mains; certified flagger and work-zone traffic control for traffic management |
| Reminder clock | 30 days · 10 days · at expiry | First reminder at 30 days; stamp amber and second reminder at 10; stamp red and work held at expiry — told: contractor + broker |
| Work-order gate | On for every work type | On · Off per work type — turning it off is a draft until Marcus Bell signs; looks 14 days ahead, runs at 07:00 and on booking, holds at 00:00 the day after expiry |
| Who decides | Nadia Brennan · Marcus Bell | Contractor safety manager signs grades and gap letters · HSE director approves overrides of a held work order |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate (half a day by hand: 9–15 documents at 15–30 minutes each) · “typical” = published figures: BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries — power-line installers and repairers about 18.6 per 100,000 in 2017 and about 22 in 2021, against about 3.5 for all workers. Regulatory context: OSHA multi-employer citation policy (CPL 02-00-124); 29 CFR 1910.269(a)(3); ISO 45001:2018 clause 8.1.4.2. Lumina Utilities and every person, contractor, insurer, broker and record named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
It is how a utility checks that a contractor is fit to work on its network before any crew arrives: insured to the contract limits, licensed, with a written safety programme, an acceptable safety record (EMR, TRIR, DART, fatalities) and a crew trained for the work. Contractor Safety Prequalification gives every contractor a passport where each proof is a stamp, read from the document and checked against your limits for each work type.
Six agents share the work. The document reader extracts every date, limit and rate with its passage; the threshold checker and the crew qualification checker grade the contractor by work type; the expiry watcher re-checks every date at 07:00; the work-order gate checks the next 14 days of work orders; the gap letter writer drafts what is missing. The contractor safety manager signs every grade.
Yes, and every other date on the passport — rating letters, licences, training cards, dielectric tests and safety programmes. The first reminder goes to the contractor and its broker at 30 days, the stamp turns amber with a second reminder at 10 days, and red at expiry. In the sample programme, 389 of 412 reminded documents were renewed before they ended.
The work-order gate reads every contractor work order in the next 14 days from the work management system, each morning and whenever one is booked. If a stamp the work type needs has expired or failed on the start date, it holds the work order and tells the planner why; if a stamp ends before the start, it marks the work at risk. A hold lifts only on a verified document or the HSE director’s override.
Yes. EMR, 3-year TRIR and DART limits, the EMR fail line, general liability and umbrella minimums, the required training and the gate are set per work type — overhead, underground cable, substation, vegetation, civil, water mains, meter work and traffic control. Changes need the HSE director’s sign-off.
Yes. The agents read, check, remind and hold; they never sign a grade, accept a document, change a threshold, add a person to a roster or release a hold. Nadia Brennan, the contractor safety manager, signs grades and gap letters; only the HSE director can override a hold, with a reason and an end date.
Only its own passport, through the contractor portal: each stamp, its date, what is missing and the upload button. It never sees other contractors or Lumina’s limits for other work types.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your contractor safety standard, insurance minimums, work types and a sample of contractor packages — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own contractors first.
High-potential incidents found the hour they are reported, not at the monthly review.
1-min demoSerious Injury and Fatality PreventionEvery high-energy job checked for its critical controls before the crew leaves the yard.
1-min demoElectronic Permit to WorkNo permit goes live over a held or missing isolation, and every signature is on record.
1-min demoWe’ll run Contractor Safety Prequalification on a sample of your own contractor packages and work orders.