Editorial from BIC Magazine – July/August 2022
Part 2 – Skills & Experience
Your in-house maintenance team is essential to keeping your business up and running. Whether it’s replacing a seasoned worker who is retiring, supplementing a slim workforce, or searching for a specific skill or service, you need an expert contractor who can complete the job safely. A safe and skilled workforce results in less downtime and higher profitability.
North American ContractorLink (ContractorLink) was created to solve a common frustration amongst buyers of industrial maintenance services: locating an appropriate contractor that has safe and skilled personnel. To help solve this challenge, ContractorLink has a team of expert advisors who have the skills and resources to evaluate your needs and connect you with a fully-vetted contractor from their network.
James Chopp is a customer solutions adviser for ContractorLink who has more than 30 years of industry experience. He is STSC certified, an authorized OSHA 500 trainer, a certified welder and rigger, and experienced in general plant maintenance, machinery equipment, installations and approvals.
He explained that a major concern of plant managers in his area is the lack of qualified personnel to keep their facilities running efficiently and safely.
“In-house maintenance departments are essential for the day-to-day operations of a manufacturing facility, so production usually suffers without those qualified people,” Chopp said. “Regardless of their past experience, a new hire has to be trained on specific safety protocols and practices and possibly obtain certifications. Depending on what kind of work needs to be performed, this can be quite challenging and costly.”
According to Chopp, ContractorLink is not a recruiting service, but what it does — and what sets it apart — is provide streamlined access to the best workers for your needs. The contractor you select will choose the best trained and certified employees for the specific work that needs to be performed.
“Having a large group of vetted contractors with multiple trade disciplines allows us to introduce the correct contractors for any need or timeframe,” Chopp said. “As for the vetting process, we only represent contractors that have taken the steps to extensively train their employees in specific trades, as well as provide them with OSHA and MSHA training and certifications and health and drug screenings.”
Chopp noted that a popular service ContractorLink provides is a courtesy walkthrough safety audit for the plant.
“This is designed to identify common safety hazards that may exist in your facility,” Chopp said. “This is a free service and is given without liability recourse. But it may help by exposing possible dangers and give the owner an opportunity to correct them.
ContractorLink wants to take the burden off of the owner and plant manager, so they can focus on the success of their business.”
For more information, visit https://nacontractorlink.com or call (844) 500-LINK [5465].
