Published on November 17, 2025
Tata Power’s Business Associate Safety Code of Conduct (BASCC) outlines mandatory safety requirements for all service Business Associates (BAs). As part of these guidelines, the BA Star Rating Process serves as a structured mechanism to evaluate the safety performance and capability of BAs engaged in high-risk and very high-risk jobs.
During the visit to Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, for the Fifth Tata Supply Chain Forum Meet on July 4–5, 2024, delegates from over 20 Tata companies discussed approaches to BA performance evaluation. Tata Steel’s BA Star Rating Process stood out for its clarity, consistency, and governance structure. A follow-up visit by the Maithon Power Limited (MPL) team to Tata Steel’s Contracts function enabled deeper learning and process-level understanding.
The Tata Steel team walked MPL through their methodology in detail. While the core principles of both companies’ frameworks were similar, MPL identified opportunities to strengthen its own processes and introduced the following enhancements:
- Awareness Sessions to help BAs understand the rating process and its implications.
- Star Rating evaluations by a Cross-Functional Team (CFT) covering BAs involved in Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMCs) and high-risk jobs, with findings shared with Corporate Safety and the divisional safety departments.
- Revalidation and next-level evaluation, planned by Corporate Safety for November 2025, based on data submitted by the CFT.
At present, BAs are assessed using predefined BASCC criteria, with evidence-based submissions determining their qualification during the bidding process. While the existing system has worked reliably, the need for a more dynamic and continuous evaluation process became evident. The upgraded Star Rating Process was therefore implemented last year, initially for major BAs involved in AMCs and overhauling jobs and has now been integrated into the BASCC guidelines.
Benefits of the Enhanced Star Rating Process:
- Data and documents collected during the evaluation process provide clear, quantifiable safety performance indicators for BAs (based on 3/4/5-star ratings).
- Simplified identification and selection of BAs for high-risk jobs based on their ranking status during the bidding stage.
- The evaluation process helps identify specific areas of improvement for low-ranking BAs and enables creation of action plans to enhance safety performance and upgrade their ranking.
Process Owner’s Verbatim
The visit to the Tata Steel Contracts Department (CSM Team) by the MPL team was highly impactful, fostering meaningful interaction and knowledge sharing on various aspects of contractor safety management systems. The step-by-step explanation provided by the Tata Steel team was appreciated by both parties.
— Jayashree Choudhury, Head – Contracts & Materials, Maithon Power Limited