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Contractor and Visitor Safety Management

Control of everyone on the warehouse floor who is not a facility employee, covering sign-in and badge issue, the site safety briefing given before floor access, escort rules for visitors, the two-way exchange of lockout/tagout procedures with any outside servicing employer and the duty to make facility employees comply with that employer's restrictions, hazard communication for multi-employer workplaces including safety data sheet access and the site labeling system, the permit authority that governs contractor hot work, host and contractor coordination for permit-required confined space entry, written proof of forklift operator training and evaluation before any outside worker drives a powered industrial truck here, carrier driver rules at the dock, contractor incident reporting, and end-of-job closeout.

Audience
Front desk and shipping office staff who run sign-in, facility escorts, area leads and supervisors who host outside work, the maintenance manager and permit authorizing individual, the safety program owner, purchasing and vendor management staff who engage contractors, and outside contractors, service technicians, temporary agency supervisors, carrier drivers, auditors, and visitors themselves
Review cycle
annual
Last reviewed
2026-08-29
Revision
1

What is in the procedure

9 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.

  1. 01

    Purpose

    Fixed

    This procedure controls the safety of every person on the warehouse floor who does not work for this facility: outside contractors and their subcontractors, equipment service technicians, carrier and courier drivers...

  2. 02

    Scope

    Customized

    This procedure applies at every entrance to the property and to every non-employee who goes past the office area into the warehouse, dock, yard, mezzanine, battery room, or any equipment room.

  3. 03

    Responsibilities

    Customized

    The sign-in point staff verify identity and purpose, confirm the visit is expected, issue the correct badge, deliver or arrange the site safety briefing, and refuse floor access to anyone who has not completed it.

  4. 04

    Procedure: Sign-In, Badge Control, Safety Briefing, and Escort

    Customized

    1. Every non-employee stops at the designated sign-in point.

  5. 05

    Procedure: Exchanging Lockout/Tagout Procedures and Controlling the Work Zone

    Fixed

    No outside worker begins a covered task until the matching exchange is complete and documented.

  6. 06

    Procedure: Hot Work, Permit Spaces, Chemicals, and Powered Industrial Trucks

    Fixed

    1. Before any welding, cutting, brazing, grinding, or other spark or flame producing work, the contractor obtains a permit from this facility's designated permit authorizing individual, who inspects the area first.

  7. 07

    Procedure: Carrier and Courier Drivers at the Dock

    Fixed

    1. Drivers report to the shipping office window first and never walk onto the dock or into the warehouse to find someone.

  8. 08

    Incidents, Non-Compliance, and Job Closeout

    Customized

    Any injury, near miss, spill, property damage, or dropped load involving an outside person is reported to the facility immediately, no matter how small and no matter whose employee was hurt, and the contractor's own...

  9. 09

    References

    Fixed

    29 CFR 1910.147 The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), paragraph (f)(2) on outside personnel.

Regulatory references

Contractor and Visitor Safety Management: 29 CFR 1910.147(f)(2)

Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.

StandardTitleWhat it requires
29 CFR 1910.147(f)(2)Control of hazardous energy: outside personnel and contractorsWhenever outside servicing personnel are to be engaged in activities covered by the scope and application of the lockout/tagout standard, the on-site employer and the outside employer must inform each other of their respective lockout or tagout procedures. The on-site employer must ensure that its own employees understand and comply with the restrictions and prohibitions of the outside employer's energy control program. Applied here, the exchange is a documented two-way step completed at check-in before the contractor touches any equipment, and the affected facility employees are told what the contractor's locks and tags mean and what they may not do while those devices are on.
29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(2)Hazard communication: written program in multi-employer workplacesEmployers who produce, use, or store hazardous chemicals at a workplace in such a way that the employees of other employers may be exposed must additionally ensure that the written hazard communication program includes three things: the methods the employer will use to provide the other employers on-site access to safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical their employees may be exposed to while working, the methods the employer will use to inform the other employers of any precautionary measures that need to be taken to protect employees during the workplace's normal operating conditions and in foreseeable emergencies, and the methods the employer will use to inform the other employers of the labeling system used in the workplace.
29 CFR 1910.146(c)(8)Permit-required confined spaces: host employer duties when a contractor entersWhen a host employer arranges to have employees of another employer perform work that involves permit space entry, the host employer must inform the contractor that the workplace contains permit spaces and that entry is allowed only through compliance with a permit space program meeting the requirements of the section, apprise the contractor of the elements that make the space in question a permit space including the hazards identified and the host employer's experience with the space, apprise the contractor of any precautions or procedures the host employer has implemented for the protection of employees in or near permit spaces where contractor personnel will be working, coordinate entry operations with the contractor when both host and contractor personnel will be working in or near permit spaces, and debrief the contractor at the conclusion of entry operations regarding the permit space program followed and any hazards confronted or created during entry.
29 CFR 1910.146(c)(9)Permit-required confined spaces: duties of the retained contractorIn addition to complying with the permit space requirements that apply to all employers, each contractor retained to perform permit space entry operations must obtain any available information regarding permit space hazards and entry operations from the host employer, coordinate entry operations with the host employer when both host and contractor personnel will be working in or near permit spaces, and inform the host employer of the permit space program the contractor will follow and of any hazards confronted or created in permit spaces, either through a debriefing or during the entry operation.
29 CFR 1910.252(a)(2)(xiii)Welding, cutting, and brazing: management responsibilities including contractorsManagement must recognize its responsibility for the safe usage of cutting and welding equipment on its property and, based on the fire potentials of plant facilities, establish areas for cutting and welding and establish procedures for cutting and welding in other areas, designate an individual responsible for authorizing cutting and welding operations in areas not specifically designed for such processes, insist that cutters or welders and their supervisors are suitably trained in the safe operation of their equipment and the safe use of the process, and advise all contractors about flammable materials or hazardous conditions of which they may not be aware.
29 CFR 1910.38(c)Emergency action plans: minimum elements of the planAn emergency action plan must include at a minimum: procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency; procedures for emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation and exit route assignments; procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate; procedures to account for all employees after evacuation; procedures to be followed by employees performing rescue or medical duties; and the name or job title of every employee who may be contacted by employees who need more information about the plan or an explanation of their duties under the plan. This paragraph sets what the plan must contain and imposes no duty toward visitors; applied here, the site safety briefing given to visitors and contractors is built from the same plan content so that reporting, evacuation, and accounting work the same way for everyone in the building.
29 CFR 1910.38(f)Emergency action plans: review of the plan with covered employeesAn employer must review the emergency action plan with each employee covered by the plan when the plan is developed or the employee is assigned initially to a job, when the employee's responsibilities under the plan change, and when the plan is changed. The duty named here runs to the employer's own covered employees, not to visitors or to a contractor's workers; applied here, it is the trigger that keeps facility escorts and briefers current on the plan they deliver to outside people.
29 CFR 1910.178(l)(1)Powered industrial trucks: operator competence before operationThe employer must ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely, as demonstrated by the successful completion of the training and evaluation specified in paragraph (l). Prior to permitting an employee to operate a powered industrial truck, except for training purposes, the employer must ensure that the operator has successfully completed the training required by paragraph (l), except as permitted by paragraph (l)(5) on avoidance of duplicative training. This duty runs to the employer of the operator, so a contractor's or agency's own employer must have trained and evaluated that worker; applied here, the facility will not release a truck to an outside worker without written proof from that worker's employer.
29 CFR 1910.178(m)(7)Powered industrial trucks: securing vehicles during loading and unloadingBrakes must be set and wheel blocks must be in place to prevent movement of trucks, trailers, or railroad cars while loading or unloading. Fixed jacks may be necessary to support a semitrailer during loading or unloading when the trailer is not coupled to a tractor. The flooring of trucks, trailers, and railroad cars must be checked for breaks and weakness before they are driven onto.

Compliance checklist

What an inspector looks for

  • Before outside servicing personnel begin covered work, the facility and the outside employer have informed each other of their respective lockout or tagout procedures

    29 CFR 1910.147(f)(2)

  • Facility employees are made to understand and comply with the restrictions and prohibitions of the outside employer's energy control program, and no facility employee removes or works around a contractor's devices

    29 CFR 1910.147(f)(2)

  • The written hazard communication program states the methods used to give other on-site employers access to safety data sheets, to inform them of precautionary measures for normal operations and foreseeable emergencies, and to inform them of the workplace labeling system

    29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(2)

  • As host, the facility tells the contractor the workplace has permit spaces entered only under a compliant program, apprises it of the hazards and the site's experience with the space and of the precautions in place, coordinates entry when both workforces are involved, and debriefs the contractor at the end

    29 CFR 1910.146(c)(8)

  • The retained contractor obtains the available permit space information from the host, coordinates entry when both workforces are in or near the space, and informs the host of the program it will follow and of hazards confronted or created

    29 CFR 1910.146(c)(9)

  • Management has established the cutting and welding areas and the procedures for other areas, designated the individual who authorizes hot work, insisted that cutters, welders, and their supervisors are suitably trained, and advised contractors of flammable materials and hazardous conditions they may not be aware of

    29 CFR 1910.252(a)(2)(xiii)

  • The emergency action plan contains the required minimum elements, including reporting procedures, evacuation type and exit route assignments, procedures to account for all employees after evacuation, and the name or job title of the contact for questions about the plan

    29 CFR 1910.38(c)

  • The emergency action plan is reviewed with each covered facility employee when the plan is developed or the employee is initially assigned, when their responsibilities under the plan change, and when the plan changes

    29 CFR 1910.38(f)

  • No one, facility employee or outside employer's worker, operates a powered industrial truck here until their employer has ensured they completed the training and evaluation required by paragraph (l)

    29 CFR 1910.178(l)(1)

  • Brakes are set and wheel blocks are in place to prevent trailer or railcar movement during loading and unloading, fixed jacks support an uncoupled semitrailer where needed, and the floor is checked for breaks and weakness before a truck is driven onto it

    29 CFR 1910.178(m)(7)

  • Every non-employee is signed in, badged, and given the site safety briefing covering emergency reporting, alarm signals, evacuation route and assembly point, walkways and forklift rules, PPE, and restricted areas before any floor access, and visitors are escorted throughout

  • Written proof of an outside worker's forklift training and evaluation is collected at check-in and filed, and contractor incidents, stop-work events, and job closeouts are reported and recorded

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This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.