The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is updating its take on all temporary and contracted employees.

A recent article came out covering the safety of temporary and contracted workers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently placed renewed focus on protecting temporary and contracted workers, encouraging employers to treat temporary worker safety the same as they do with permanent employees.

 

OSHA’s Renewed Focus on Temps

OSHA recommends that the temporary staffing agency and the host employer set out their respective responsibilities for compliance with applicable OSHA standards in their contract. Including such terms in a contract will ensure that each employer complies with all relevant regulatory requirements, thereby avoiding confusion as to the employer’s obligations.

Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers (from OSHA)

The National Safety Council (NSC) also calls for host employers and staffing agencies to coordinate and share responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of temporary and contract workers. State-by state data show temporary workers can have double the risk of suffering severe injuries at work and often are assigned to higher risk jobs, according to the NSC.

Aside from working closely with staffing agencies, the NSC also recommends employers:

• Establish a policy that states clearly that all workers in all types of employment arrangements have equal rights to a safe and healthy workplace.
• Develop and implement procedures to ensure that all workers, including temporary and contract workers, are provided a safe and healthy workplace and that there is clarity on supervisory control.
• Establish mandatory requirements for safety training based on the work environment and risks of job assignments to be delivered by the contract worker employer, staffing agency, and/or host employer.
• Work with contract worker employers and staffing agencies to identify how to gather and analyze appropriate information about temporary and contract workers to better understand any challenges to ensuring their safety and health and what strategies can be effective in further reducing risk.
• Develop strategies with contract worker employers to ensure roles and responsibilities associated with accountability for worker safety are clearly understood and effectively executed.
• Monitor trends in the use of temporary and contract workers in order to address changing needs for maintaining a safe and healthy workplace for all workers.

To learn more about OSHA’s temporary employee and contracted workers regulations, contact MAC Safety.