TWI BULLETIN NO. 1

Temporary Worker Initiative

Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Requirements

This is the first in a series of guidance documents issued under the 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Temporary Worker 

Initiative (TWI). This Initiative focuses on compliance with safety and health 

requirements when temporary workers are employed under the joint (or dual) 

employment of a staffing agency and a host employer.

When a staffing agency supplies temporary 

workers to a business, typically, the staffing agency 

and the staffing firm client (also known as the host 

employer) are joint employers of those workers. 

Both employers are responsible to some degree for 

determining the conditions of employment and for 

complying with the law. In this joint employment 

structure, questions regarding which employer 

is responsible for particular safety and health 

protections are common. This bulletin addresses 

how to identify who is responsible for recording 

work-related injuries and illnesses of temporary 

workers on the OSHA 300 log. 

Injuries and illnesses should be recorded on only 

one employer’s injury and illness log (29 CFR 

1904.31(b)(4)). In most cases, the host employer is 

the one responsible for recording the injuries and 

illnesses of temporary workers. 

Injury and illness recordkeeping responsibility 

is determined by supervision. Employers must 

record the injuries and illnesses of temporary 

workers if they supervise such workers on 

a day-to-day basis (29 CFR 1904.31(a)). Dayto-day supervision occurs when “in addition 

to specifying the output, product or result 

to be accomplished by the person’s work, 

the employer supervises the details, means, 

methods and processes by which the work is to 

be accomplished.” See OSHA FAQ 31-1 at www.

osha.gov/recordkeeping. (Essentially, an employer 

is performing day-to-day supervision when that 

employer controls conditions presenting potential 

hazards and directs the worker’s activities around, 

and exposure to, those hazards.) In most cases, 

the host employer provides this supervision. 

While the staffing agency may have a 

representative at the host employer’s worksite, 

the presence of that representative does not 

necessarily transfer recordkeeping responsibilities 

to the staffing agency. As long as the host 

employer maintains day-to-day supervision over 

the worker, the host employer is responsible for 

recording injuries and illnesses.

The non-supervising employer (generally the 

staffing agency) still shares responsibility for 

its workers’ safety and health. The staffing 

agency, therefore, should maintain frequent 

communication with its workers and the host 

employer to ensure that any injuries and illnesses 

are properly reported and recorded. Such 

communication also alerts the staffing agency to 

existing workplace hazards and to any protective 

measures that need to be provided to its workers. 

Ongoing communication is also needed after an 

injury or illness so the recording employer can 

know the outcome of the case.
The staffing agency and host employer must set 

up a way for employees to report work-related 

injuries and illnesses promptly and tell each 

employee how to report work-related injuries 

and illnesses. In addition, employees, former 

employees, their personal representatives, and 

their authorized employee representatives have 

the right to access the injury and illness records 

(29 CFR 1904.35). 

In order to provide safe working conditions, 

information about injuries and illnesses should 

flow between the host employer and staffing 

agency. If a temporary worker sustains an injury 

or illness and the host employer knows about it, 

the staffing agency should be informed, so the 

staffing agency knows about the hazards facing 

their workers. Equally, if a staffing agency learns 

of an injury or illness, they should inform the 

host employer so that future injuries might be 

prevented, and the case is recorded. As a best 

practice, the staffing agency and host employer 

should establish notification procedures to ensure 

that when a worker informs one employer of an 

injury or illness, the other employer is apprised 

as well. The details of how this communication 

is to take place should be clearly established in 

contract language.

Please note that OSHA law prohibits retaliation 

against a worker for reporting an injury 

or illness. Further information on OSHA’s 

recordkeeping requirements is available on the 

OSHA Recordkeeping website (www.osha.gov/

recordkeeping). Further information on protecting 

temporary workers is available at the OSHA 

Temporary Worker website (www.osha.gov/

temp_workers).

Twenty-five states and two territories operate 

occupational safety and health programs 

approved by OSHA. States enforce at least as 

effective standards that may have different or 

additional requirements. A list of State Plans is 

available at www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp.

EXAMPLE SCENARIO

A manufacturer of metal cans, Metal Can Co., needs machine operators for a short-term increase in 

production. Metal Can Co. contracts with Industrial Staffing, a staffing agency, to provide machine 

operators to work shifts on a temporary basis. Industrial Staffing hires ten operators with minimal 

knowledge of English and sends them to work onsite at Metal Can Co. The staffing agency also 

hires a person to act as the temporary workers’ team lead who will translate the employers’ orders 

and any provided training, and perform administrative duties such as time and attendance tracking. 

At the worksite, a supervisor from Metal Can Co. assigns each of the temporary workers to a 

particular machine. The supervisor also controls and checks on the employees’ work throughout 

their shift. On their second day, one of the temporary workers suffers a finger amputation injury 

from an inadequately guarded machine press. Who is responsible for recording this injury?

Analysis:

For recordkeeping purposes, Metal Can Co. must record the injury on its injury and illness log. 

The key fact in this scenario is that Metal Can Co. supervises and controls the day-to-day work of 

the temporary employees at its facility. The team leader provided by the staffing agency is not 

empowered to modify or override the host employer’s directions and therefore is not considered a 

supervisor under OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation. While Metal Can Co. should inform the staffing 

agency of the injury, the staffing agency should not record it on its own log because the injury 

should only be recorded on one set of injury and illness logs. Should Metal Can Co. refuse or ignore 

its duty to record, the company may be subject to an OSHA citation.
HOW CAN OSHA HELP?

Workers have a right to a safe workplace. If you 

think your job is unsafe or you have questions, 

contact OSHA at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). We can 

help. It’s confidential. For other valuable worker 

protection information, such as workers’ rights, 

employer responsibilities and other services 

OSHA offers, visit OSHA’s Workers’ page (www.

osha.gov/workers.html).

The OSH Act prohibits employers from retaliating 

against their employees for exercising their rights 

under the OSH Act. These rights include reporting 

an injury or illness, filing an OSHA complaint, 

participating in an inspection or talking to an 

inspector, seeking access to employer exposure 

and injury records, and raising a safety or health 

complaint with the employer. If workers have been 

retaliated against for exercising their rights, they 

must file a complaint with OSHA within 30 calendar 

days from the date the retaliatory decision has 

been both made and communicated to the worker.

OSHA also provides help to employers. OSHA’s 

On-site Consultation Program (www.osha.gov/

consultation) offers free and confidential advice to 

small and medium-sized businesses in all states 

across the country, with priority given to highhazard worksites. For more information or for 

additional compliance assistance, contact OSHA 

at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), or visit our website at 

www.osha.gov. 
Disclaimer: This bulletin is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It contains 

recommendations as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards. The recommendations are 

advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful 

workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to comply with safety and health standards 

and regulations promulgated by OSHA or by a state with an OSHA-approved state plan. In addition, the Act’s General 

Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1), requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized 

hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

For more information

Occupational

Safety and Health

Administration

www.osha.gov (800) 321-OSHA (6742) U.S. Department of Labor

OSHA 3748-03 2014