How to Choose an Industrial Labour Supply Company

To choose an industrial labour supply company, check five things: whether it knows the trade, what qualifications it can show, who employs the workers, how it responds when something changes, and whether you can speak to someone it has worked for. A wrong choice shows up on site, as a welder who cannot do the job or paperwork that was never finished. These five checks catch most of it before you sign.

1. Does it know the trade?

Describe the job the way you would to your own supervisor: the material, the thickness, the process and the standard it follows. A company that knows the trade will ask you questions back, such as the welding position, the access, the inspection that follows or whether the pipework is already in place.

If it answers with a rate and a start date and nothing else, it is treating a welder, a boilermaker and a maintenance fitter as the same product. They are not. Our page on welding contractors shows the kind of detail we ask for.

2. What qualifications can it show?

For welding, ask for the welder qualification certificate in the name of each person who will work on your plant. Check that it covers the process, the material, the thickness range and the position your job needs. Under EN ISO 9606 it is valid for three years, as long as the employer confirms every six months that the welder has kept welding within its range.

Do not confuse that with a company certificate. A quality system certificate, or an EN ISO 3834 certificate for welding, says how the company works. It does not say that a particular person can weld your joint. Our welding certification page sets out what each one covers.

3. Who is the employer, and who directs the work?

Settle this in writing. In Spain, the temporary hiring of workers in order to hand them over to another company is restricted to authorised temporary employment agencies. A contractor that takes on a job and directs its own staff is a different arrangement. Both are legitimate, but they work differently, and you need to know which one you are buying.

Also ask who supervises on site and who signs off the work, and what safety documentation and induction your plant requires from outside companies.

4. What happens when something changes?

Plans change. A start date moves, the scope grows or a person turns out to be the wrong fit. Ask the following before you sign.

• How much notice does it need to put people on your site?
• What happens if someone is not right for the job?
• How does it handle a change of dates or of the number of people?

The answers tell you more than a promise of speed.

5. Can you speak to someone it has worked for?

Ask for a reference you can call: someone who used the company for a comparable job. A contractor that has done the work will have one. Ask that person what went wrong as well as what went right, and how it was fixed.

Ask also for the scope in writing. A short document with the trades, the number of people, the dates, the standard and the responsibilities is worth more than any brochure.

Tell us about the job

At MetalBraga we place welders and technicians on your site or take the work on to order, in Spain and Portugal. Tell us what the job is, the dates and where the plant is, and we will reply with a proposal. You can contact us by phone, email or the form.