Introduction to Contractor Safety

Think about the contractors your company uses. Do you prequalify them? If so, what criteria do you use? If not, do you think it is a good idea to prequalify contractors? Why, or why not?
ALSO I ANOTHER STUDENTS COMMENT BELOW 

Shawn:

I am in a rural midwest town. The contractors that we use are known in the community and reputation proceeds them so we do prequalify them based on recommendations from property owners and other business owners. We don't ask for safety records or any violation history.  Mostly we make sure that they are licenced and insured before we hire them for the job. In the property rental maintenance business, I think this method works well on a small scale like ours, less than 500 units; however, a larger company would benefit well from a more thorough prequalification. I think prequalifying a contractor based on their safety history is a good thing as it could cut down on cost in the long run.