The Culture Gap: Governing Contractor Risk Before Work Begins
Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 - 1:00 PM (ET)
Across industries—from manufacturing and logistics to energy, utilities, and healthcare—risk often spikes when the work is done by non-employees (contractors, subs, temps). In 2023, the U.S. recorded 5,283 work-related deaths (3.5 per 100,000 FTE)1.
Research consistently shows that temporary/contingent workers experience higher injury rates than comparable permanent workers, underscoring a systemic exposure gap when host and contractor systems aren’t aligned2. And while totals vary by sector and year, contract workers have accounted for roughly 1 in 5 U.S. workplace fatalities, highlighting the scale of the challenge across the economy—not just on jobsites2.
Join our panel of experts as they dive into why contractor safety is a governance, integration, and culture challenge—not merely pre-qualification. Join the discussion on how to build shared accountability with contractors without undermining legal boundaries, and how to embed them into your SIF-prevention, verification, and learning systems before work starts.
Key learnings:
- From vetting to exposure control: Move beyond paperwork to operational controls, clear owner/contractor responsibilities, and leading indicators that catch weak signals early. OSHA
- Closing the culture gap: Practical tactics to align decision rights, speak-up norms, and learning behaviors between host and contractor teams so near-misses become insights. OSHA
- Shared accountability that holds up: How to set performance expectations (and verification) that respect arm’s-length contracts yet drive real risk reduction across mixed workforces.
Attendees leave with a concise governance checklist, sample leading indicators for contractor work, and messaging to secure cross-functional buy-in.
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Presenters:
Toni Fleming, Vice President - DEKRA
Jeffrey Treffinger, Executive Consultant - DEKRA