Contractors contract workers

One of the interesting requirements of the PSM standard deals with outside contractors. Contract workers who work on the facility are exposed to the same hazardous processes as plant personnel. PSM spells out the duties of the host (employing facility) and the contractor. Some of the specific duties of the host include ... 

Contractors. Employers must inform contract employees prior to the initiation of the contractor s work of the known potential fire, explosion, or toxic release hazards related to the contractor s work and the process. Contract employees and host employers must ensure that contract workers are trained in the work practices necessary to perform their jobs safely and are informed of any applicable safety rules of the facility work and the process. 

Many events involve contractors and subcontractors. The companies involved, and their reporting stmctures, should be identified. The investigators will need information to do with the contract companies and contract workers in areas such as ... 

Companies that strive for excellent safety performance aim to treat contract workers—particularly long-term contractors—as if they are full members of the organization. However, there can be no denying that there are differences between permanent workers and those on contract. These differences include the following ... 

As shown in Figure 19.1, the offshore oil and gas business is especially dependent on contractors— ranging from very large companies all the way to small organizations and individuals. The agency responsible for offshore safety in the United States is the BSEE. This agency has paid particular attention to the management of contractors. Their philosophy is that the responsibility for what takes place offshore lies with the operator and that the operator therefore has to make sure that the contractors work safely and in conformance with the rules. It is up to the operator to ensure that the contractor knows what to do and that all contract workers are properly trained and evaluated. 

From a legal point of view, the determination as to whether a worker is a contractor or not depends on who performs day-to-day supervision. If the supervision is mostly performed by the facility personnel, then the contract workers are considered to be fuU-time employees. If, however, the contract workers are supervised by the management of their own company, and if they have little interaction with the facility s process, then they would not be regarded as fulltime employees. 

Contract companies Design companies Subcontractors Contract workers Maintenance contractors Visitors/consultants... 

Frequently, contractors will work on equipment that is the property of the operator. The operator should provide the contract workers with all the tools, materials, and PPE that is needed to work on that equipment. The contractor is then responsible for using the provided materials in the proper manner. 

Rising use of contract maintenance. While there is little or no statistical evidence linking contractor use to higher accident rates in aviation, some anecdotal evidence (such as the involvement of contractor maintenance workers in the accident at the former Valujet see for example Langewiesche, 1998) has resulted in increased levels of concern. The OTA (1988, pg. 107) notes that Contract maintenance, by its nature, is not as easy as in-house work to monitor and manage. Concerns have also been raised about the impact of contract workers on safety in the petrochemical and mining industries (see for example Wells et al., 1991 Kochan et al., 1994 Rebitzer, 1995 Rousseau and Libuser, 1997). 

The FRA safety official also noted that the use of contractors has increased since deregulation, attributing the increase to the railroads belief that contractors can be cost-effective. He explained that the FRA has responded to this trend by trying to ensure that contractors are properly trained. However, he felt that the biggest area of contractor use is for roadway workers, and suspected that railroads did not have an interest in having contract workers perform more critical operations, such as train operations and dispatch. 

Give priority to protecting whole work force rather than individuals. Consider any risks from their operations that may affect non-employees such as agency and contract workers, contractors, visitors and those with a right of entry such as postmen, utilities employees, delivery drivers, etc. Appoint an assessor ... 

Written safety program covering contract workers, written program providing for control of safety and health conditions for other contractors and subcontractor employees, communication methods for contract workers. 

Contract workers on a site or in a workplace belonging to the principal need to feel that they are part of the site reporting and participatory mechanisms, so that they can make an effective contribution to safety and health on site. Longer-term contractors need to be part of site health and safety cormnittees. Even short-term contractors need to participate in site safety meetings. 

Some OHS legislation says, on the one hand, that the principal is responsible for the health and safety of the contractor and atty person employed or engaged by the contractor in relation to matters over which the principal has control, but then s s that this in no way reduces the duty of the contractor to workers they employ or engage. It further mentions that the principal cannot vary this duty in the contract. 

The management of contractors is important. Frequently, contract workers are involved in activities that have a high potential for injury, loss of life, environmental releases, and economic loss. In most cases, the contractor company is on site for a relatively short period of time. This means that the contractor s managers, supervisors, and workers are not likely to be completely familiar with the operating company s way of doing things. 

Site-specific health and safety requirements and site personnel, including contractors, are typically held responsible for managing and conducting all activities safely. Every worker should understand that he or she is responsible for sharing in the commitment to a safe workplace. In addition, employees should perform their work in accordance with any applicable laws, regulations, contract provisions, and established site-specific requirements. 

Contractors and subcontractors are typically required by contract to be responsible for their own workers and should provide a level of oversight to meet all specifications. The primary contractor who is responsible for the worksite typically establishes the minimum requirements, controls access to the worksite, and verifies that subcontractors fulfill their health and safety duties and responsibilities. Wlien these specifications are defined, all contractors and subcontractors should meet or exceed these requirements, as appropriate. This could be based on the nature of the assigned tasks and associated hazards [2]. 

Maintenance may be handled either by employees hired especially for that job or by an outside contractor. The latter is most economical when workers in most trades are needed only occasionally. The company does not need to hire these workers full time, but still has their talents available when they are needed. Even in a large plant where a number of employees skilled in each maintenance trade are needed full time, contract maintenance may be used as a supplement at times of turnarounds (a planned time when large continuous plants are shut down to do preventive maintenance, repairs, and inspections) or especially heavy demands. For instance, during the turnaround of a 140,000 bbl/day (22,000 m3/day) Tidewater Oil Company refinery, the number of maintenance personnel rose from a preshutdown level of 181 to 924 men.48 Fewer men could have been used, but the downtime of the refinery would have been increased. In this instance the plant contracted for all of its maintenance. 

The standard contract usually indicates that the Project Manager speaks and acts for the Owner. When the Owner s representative gives working instructions directly to a craftsman, a situation of co-employership is set up. The workers get their check from one party (the contractor) but their working instructions and directions from another (the Owner). Thus they, in effect, have two employers. The courts hold both employers responsible in case of accident or injury. In cases where co-employership is claimed, both the Owner and the Project Manager are open for legal action. 

There are several qualified civil contractors with capability of handling 25 plus workers. Two of them are experienced on design-build contracts. 

Figure 19.1 shows that the number of hours worked by the owner/operator has not changed much in the last 30 years, but that the contractor work hours have increased by a factor of 15. (The chart also illustrates the costs and challenges associated with moving from simple, shall-water platforms, many of which are unmanned, to deepwater drilling and production projects.) It should also be noted that more and more of the operators workers are themselves under contract rather than being tme employees. 

Regulations generally require that employers periodically evaluate and audit contract companies and workers. If any problems or violations of company standards are observed, or if the contractor s safety record is deteriorating, the operating company must bring them to the attention of the... 

The contractor s plans for conducting contract and subcontract worker orientations and training Emergency response and security procedures Considerations for permit-required work... 

Six months into the two-year project, one of the major subcontractors responsible for multistory steel-beam erection had employees working over 30 feet in the air without fall protection. After the second observation of this violation, the plant safety manager ordered the workers down, informed the contractor of the repeat violation, and initiated the process to terminate the contract. The contractor was removed from the project and replaced by a firm that accomplished all the goals initially established by the textile manufacturer. The plant manager in this scenario did not compromise. As a result, the project was completed on time with only one OSHA-recordable injury. 

Nested contractors (such as contracted maintenance workers) and temporary employees who are supervised by host site management are governed by the site s safety and health management system and are therefore included in the host site s rates. 

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