Abbott Laboratories has for many years utilized comprehensive, highly interactive contractor safety programs to assure the best possible safety performance. But to be most successful, safety elements need to be fully integrated into business management systems. Therefore, when Abbott's corporate engineering division began work on its new electronic contract management system several years ago, EHS professionals were part of the team from the very earliest stages of development.

The Engineering Tool for Communication (ETC), was designed to automate and simplify contractor management - including contractor selection, contract development, invoicing, project tracking, and contractor performance reporting. Its development was championed and coordinated by the engineering division's contract administration group, which established a multi-divisional Engineering Review Team to approve and support every element of ETC; including the embedded elements of the contractor safety program. Integrated into the ETC system are all key aspects of the contractor safety program, including policies, procedures, and training. Abbott engineers can access and edit safety-related pre-qualification requirements, contractor meeting records, EHS incident reports, and contractor performance reviews. Contractors must maintain positive safety performance to remain on Abbott's preferred list and retain access to the paperless ETC system.

ETC was implemented at Abbott's Lake County, Illinois operations - where the number of on-site contractor employees averages greater than 700 each day and where each year over 2,500 contractor employees attend the Abbott-required Safety Orientation. These operations have seen significant improvement in contractor safety performance in the past several years, with both Lost Time Accidents and Total Recordable Incident Rates falling well below industry averages