13: Contract Personnel Issue

Node Contract Personnel Issue

Definition/Typical Issues

Was a contract employee involved? Was the person involved covered by the contract employee training program? Is the person involved directly supervised by someone who does not work for your company? Does this person have to meet different requirements than a "regular" employee?

Typical personnel addressed by this node include:

  • Contract operators
  • Contract mechanics
  • Contract electricians
  • Contract sales personnel
  • Contract delivery personnel

Contract personnel involved in the delivery of materials that involve direct interaction with the process/manufacturing system are typically addressed by this node. Other vendors (vending machine contractors, truck drivers) are usually categorized under the Third-party Personnel Issue (#14) node.

Note 1: Distinguishing between company, contract, and third-party personnel can be important because of the different management systems that control the work performed by these groups.

Examples

Example 1

  • A contract mechanic installed the wrong type of gasket in a line during a scheduled maintenance activity. As a result, the line failed when the process was restarted. The procedure did not specify the proper material to be used. The in-house mechanics all knew the proper materials and, therefore, it had never been a problem even though it was not specifically covered in the procedure.

Example 2

  • A contract electrician was electrocuted when she started working on a live bus. The bus had multiple power supplies and the electrician failed to isolate one of the supplies.

Typical Recommendations

  • Ensure that contract employees have sufficient guidance to perform their activities.
  • Ensure that work documents used by contract employees have sufficient detail to allow individuals inexperienced with your operations and work methods to adequately perform the job.
  • Identify appropriate training requirements for contractor personnel.
  • Provide/confirm awareness training for contractor personnel.
  • Define roles and responsibilities for corporate or site staff overseeing the contractor programs and personnel.
  • Train company staff on their role in administering the contractor management program.
  • Maintain records substantiating decisions to contract/not contract with firms.
  • Select contractors based upon their functional capabilities, past safety performance, and the soundness of their safety programs.
  • Provide a controlled waiver policy to address situations where the only available contractors for a particular service do not meet minimum program requirements for safety program and/or performance.
  • Maintain records of contractor safety performance during the contract (e.g., inspections, audits, injury statistics, incident investigations).

Cross-References

Version 10 Element(s)
Node ID Node Name
10 Contract Employee

 

PSM Element(s)
11

 

RBPS Element(s)
Contractor Management

 

Maritime Element(s)
Node ID Node Name
11 Newly Assigned/Contract/Temporary Officers/Crew
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