Working Inside a PSM-Covered Plant: The Contractor Training 1910.119(h)(3) Puts on the Contract Employer
By KnowledgeCity · 12 min read ·
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A mechanical contractor mobilizing 12 people for a turnaround gets a site orientation, a badge and the plant's safety rules. None of that paperwork is the training the contractor's own company owes each of those 12 people, which is a separate duty with a separate record behind it. Under 29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3) that duty, and the record proving it, belong to the contract employer.
That distinction stops being academic on the day an inspector walks into the turnaround trailer and asks for the training record of a named pipefitter. The plant can produce its orientation log and its injury log. Neither of those is the document the inspector is entitled to under (h)(3)(iii), which is held by whoever employs the pipefitter.
Firms in construction and engineering that work inside covered processes meet this pattern on every turnaround. The crews rotate between sites often enough that a per-project binder stops being useful. A single training file per employee does more work.
So the gap opens at the contract award and stays open until somebody asks for a named person's record. Closing it means knowing which of your own people the paragraph covers, and what the file has to hold for each of them on the day somebody asks to see it.
Which Contractors 1910.119(h) Covers
29 CFR 1910.119(h)(1) draws the boundary by the kind of work performed. That boundary is narrower than a site-wide reading of the standard suggests. That paragraph applies to contractors performing maintenance or repair, turnaround, major renovation, or specialty work on or adjacent to a covered process. It excludes incidental services which do not influence process safety, such as janitorial work and delivery.
Site managers commonly extend that paragraph to every badge on the property. 1910.119(h)(1) scopes it to maintenance or repair, turnaround, major renovation and specialty work on or adjacent to a covered process, which leaves a catering crew and a parcel courier outside. A firm that trains every badge holder to the same depth spends the budget in the wrong place and can still leave a pipefitter short.
What Makes the Process Covered in the First Place
Coverage begins with the process and not with the site. A plant can run 1 covered process on a site holding a dozen units, and the standard follows that process. Under 1910.119(a)(1) the standard applies to a process involving a chemical at or above the threshold quantity listed in appendix A.
The same paragraph reaches a Category 1 flammable gas, or a flammable liquid with a flashpoint below 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The quantity test for that gas or liquid is 10,000 pounds or more held on site in one location, a figure worth confirming with the host in writing. Paragraph (a)(2) then excludes retail facilities, well drilling or servicing operations, and normally unoccupied remote facilities.
A contractor bidding work therefore has 2 questions to settle before pricing the training. That contractor settles the first by asking whether the unit is a covered process. The second is whether the scope of work is the kind of work (h)(1) describes, or the incidental kind it excludes.
Both questions belong in writing before you price anything, and 4 steps get them there:
- Ask the host to confirm the unit is a covered process.
- Compare your scope of work against the 4 categories in (h)(1).
- Record the answer in the bid file, with the date.
- Re-ask both questions when the scope changes mid-project.
The 5 Duties 1910.119(h)(3) Assigns
With those 2 questions settled, 1910.119(h)(3) assigns 5 duties to the contract employer. Each of those 5 subparagraphs produces a different thing for the file. 2 of them produce a document the crew leaves behind.
| Subparagraph | What the contract employer does | What the crew leaves behind |
|---|---|---|
| (h)(3)(i) | Assures that each contract employee is trained in the work practices necessary to safely perform his or her job | Evidence that the training was matched to the job the employee was sent to do |
| (h)(3)(ii) | Assures that each contract employee is instructed in the known potential fire, explosion, or toxic release hazards related to the job and the process, and in the applicable provisions of the emergency action plan | Instruction tied to the specific process, alongside the plan provisions the plant explained |
| (h)(3)(iii) | Documents that each contract employee received and understood the training, and prepares a record of it | The record itself, with 3 named fields |
| (h)(3)(iv) | Assures that each contract employee follows the safety rules of the facility, including the safe work practices required by 1910.119(f)(4) | A supervision practice that survives a spot check in the unit |
| (h)(3)(v) | Advises the host employer of any unique hazards presented by the work, or of any hazards found by the work | A dated communication to the plant naming the hazard |
Two of Them Point Back at the Host's Documents
The instruction duty at (h)(3)(ii) and the work practice duty at (h)(3)(iv) both depend on material the plant holds. Neither can be discharged from the contractor's own files alone. 1910.119(n) requires the host to establish an emergency action plan for the entire plant under 29 CFR 1910.38, with procedures for handling small releases.
The safe work practices come from a second paragraph of the standard. Under (f)(4) the host controls hazards during lockout and tagout, confined space entry, and opening process equipment or piping. The same paragraph covers entrance into the facility by maintenance, contractor and other support personnel, and states that those practices apply to contractor employees as well.
A contractor that receives those documents late has a training duty it cannot complete on time, so the request belongs in the contract, where a delivery date can be attached to it. Every turnaround brings a new crew and the same duty.
The Record (h)(3)(iii) Asks For
Documentation is the duty most often written into a procedure at the wrong subparagraph, and the source is specific about both the obligation and its contents. 1910.119(h)(3)(iii) requires the contract employer to document that each contract employee has received and understood the training required by the paragraph, and to prepare a record. That record has to contain 3 specifically named things.
- The identity of the contract employee.
- The date of training.
- The means used to verify that the employee understood the training.
The third field is where contractor files run thin. A signature confirms attendance, and the paragraph asks what method established understanding. That might be a quiz score, an observed demonstration, or a supervisor sign-off against named criteria. Naming the method is what makes the file answer the question on its own, which is the discipline a records defense depends on.
Where the Letters Fall in the Source
Procedures copied between firms tend to misplace these letters, so it is worth setting them against the source. The paragraph runs in the order the work happens. It begins with work practice training at (h)(3)(i), then process hazard and emergency plan instruction at (h)(3)(ii). Documentation follows at (h)(3)(iii), safety rules at (h)(3)(iv), and advising the host at (h)(3)(v).
A procedure citing (h)(3)(ii) for its record requirement points an auditor at the instruction duty. The record requirement itself is 1 subparagraph further down the list. Everything else an auditor asks about a turnaround belongs to the plant's own paragraph.
The paragraph an auditor reads first in that order is (h)(3)(iii), and the record it asks for carries 4 separate fields:
- Record the identity of each contract employee.
- Record the date of the training.
- Record the means used to verify the employee understood it.
- Keep the record where the host can see it on the day it asks.
Where the Host's Duties Begin
The plant has its own paragraph, and reading it clarifies which requests a contractor should expect during a turnaround. 1910.119(h)(2) assigns 6 duties to the host employer:
- Obtaining and evaluating information regarding the contract employer's safety performance and programs when selecting a contractor, at (h)(2)(i).
- Informing contract employers of the known potential fire, explosion, or toxic release hazards related to the work and the process, at (h)(2)(ii).
- Explaining the applicable provisions of the emergency action plan, at (h)(2)(iii).
- Developing and implementing safe work practices consistent with (f)(4) to control the entrance, presence, and exit of contract employers and contract employees in covered process areas, at (h)(2)(iv).
- Periodically evaluating the performance of contract employers in fulfilling their obligations under (h)(3), at (h)(2)(v).
- Maintaining a contract employee injury and illness log related to the contractor's work in process areas, at (h)(2)(vi).
The One a Contractor Feels Directly
(h)(2)(v) is the duty a contractor feels directly, because a periodic evaluation of (h)(3) performance means the plant will ask to see how the training duty was met. The duties the host keeps for itself are covered separately. A contractor preparing for that evaluation is preparing its own (h)(3) file.
What the Crew Needs Before It Enters the Unit
Working backwards from that evaluation gives a contractor a delivery sequence for the 12 people mobilizing on the turnaround, in the order each item has to be ready:
- Work practice training for the job each person was assigned, which is the (h)(3)(i) duty and varies between a pipefitter, a rigger and an instrument technician.
- Hazard instruction for the specific process the crew will work on or adjacent to, which is half of (h)(3)(ii) and depends on the hazard information the plant supplied.
- The applicable provisions of the plant's emergency action plan, which is the other half of (h)(3)(ii) and comes from the plan the host established under 1910.119(n).
- The facility's safety rules and the (f)(4) safe work practices covering lockout and tagout, confined space entry and opening process equipment or piping, which is the (h)(3)(iv) duty.
- A verification step for each of the above, so the record under (h)(3)(iii) has something to name in its third field.
Which Items Travel Between Sites
Items 1, 4, and 5 are standing content a contractor can hold once and assign to every crew, since work practices for a trade change slowly. Items 2 and 3 change with every plant the crew enters. Contractors getting crews trained before site access usually find that the standing portion is what collapses the mobilization window. It is the part that can be finished before the contract is signed.
How a Contractor Would Assemble This File
A contractor that works turnarounds should assemble this from the record backwards, since (h)(3)(iii) is the part an inspector reads first. Contractor safety training is assembled backwards from that record, so every course exists because a paragraph or a site hazard asked for it.
Each employee would have 1 training file that follows them between sites. That file holds the trade work practice training, the completion date and the named verification method. The plant-specific items attach to the same file per project, so a pipefitter who worked 3 covered processes has 3 hazard instruction entries against 1 identity.
KC Library covers the standing portion, the work practice and hazard content a contractor assigns to every crew whatever plant issued the badge. Completion is recorded against the named employee, so the file follows the person between projects. That leaves the contractor writing only the plant-specific instruction for each turnaround, and the file that answers an inspector is assembled before the crew arrives.
One question is worth putting to your own file before an inspector does. Pick a named crew member and open their training record. Does it state the means used to verify that the person understood the training?
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who trains contract employees under PSM?
The contract employer. 29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(i) requires the contract employer to assure that each contract employee is trained in the work practices necessary to safely perform his or her job, and (h)(3)(ii) requires instruction in the known potential fire, explosion, or toxic release hazards related to the job and the process. The host employer has its own separate duties at 1910.119(h)(2).
2. Which contractors does 1910.119(h) apply to?
1910.119(h)(1) applies the paragraph to contractors performing maintenance or repair, turnaround, major renovation, or specialty work on or adjacent to a covered process. It excludes contractors providing incidental services which do not influence process safety, and it names janitorial work, food and drink services, laundry, delivery and other supply services as examples.
3. What has to be in the contractor training record?
29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(iii) requires the contract employer to document that each contract employee has received and understood the training, and to prepare a record containing the identity of the contract employee, the date of training, and the means used to verify that the employee understood the training. All 3 fields are named in the text.
4. Does the host employer verify contractor training?
1910.119(h)(2)(v) requires the employer to periodically evaluate the performance of contract employers in fulfilling their obligations as specified in (h)(3). The training itself and the record remain duties of the contract employer under (h)(3), so a contractor should expect the plant to ask how those duties were met.
5. What does the contractor have to tell the plant?
29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(v) requires the contract employer to advise the employer of any unique hazards presented by the contract employer's work, or of any hazards found by the contract employer's work. That duty runs during the job as well as before it, since a hazard found while opening equipment is a hazard found by the work.
References
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(h)(1), application of the contractors paragraph.". ecfr.gov. (1)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(i), training in the work practices necessary to safely perform the job.". ecfr.gov. (3)(i)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(ii), instruction in process hazards and the emergency action plan.". ecfr.gov. (3)(ii)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(iii), documentation and the contract employee training record.". ecfr.gov. (3)(iii)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(h)(3)(v), advising the host employer of hazards.". ecfr.gov. (3)(v)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(h)(2), host employer responsibilities for contractors.". ecfr.gov. (2)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(f)(4), safe work practices applying to employees and contractor employees.". ecfr.gov. (4)).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. "29 CFR 1910.119(n), emergency planning and response.". ecfr.gov. ).