Document ID: OSHA-2015-0013-0007
Agency: osha
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2015-09-23T04:00Z

DRAFT (September 14, 2015)
Injury and Illness Prevention Programs/Safety and Health Management Systems 
Recommendations for Protecting Temporary Workers

Injury and illness prevention programs can be an effective tool for reducing occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

The following recommended practices address the implementation of safety and health programs for employment situations where temporary workers  -  those provided by a staffing agency to a host employer  -  are working.  At such worksites, the staffing agency and host employer are typically joint employers of the temporary workers and both have safety and health responsibilities. The extent of the obligations of each employer may vary depending on workplace conditions. But in all cases, temporary workers have a right to safety and health protections under the OSH Act and its regulations.

OSHA has issued several guidance documents that outline the responsibilities of host employers and staffing agencies for protecting temporary workers which provide helpful information for determining which employer has which responsibilities for safety and health.

These guidance documents include:

   # Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers
   # Policy Background on the Temporary Worker Initiative 
   # Temporary Worker Initiative (TWI) Bulletin No. 1 - Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Requirements
   # Temporary Worker Initiative (TWI) Bulletin No. 2  -  Personal Protective Equipment
   # Temporary Worker Initiative (TWI) Bulletin No. 3  -  Whistleblower Protection Rights
      
It is important to note that individual state OSHA plans may have different policies and legal requirements regarding the responsibilities of host employers and staffing agencies for protecting temporary workers. Employers and workers and their representatives should consult the individual state OSHA plans to determine requirements in these states.

Temporary Workers- Safety and Health Programs 

The staffing agency and host employer should each have a safety and health program that describes their respective responsibilities for the safety and health of temporary workers, share their programs and have a process for coordinating the relevant aspects of their safety and health programs. 

Management commitment:
The safety and health programs for the host employer and staffing agency should:
   * provide the same level of safety and health protection to temporary workers as to permanent  employees working at a worksite and exposed to similar hazards;
   * set forth the responsibilities and obligations of each employer;
   * outline the procedures and processes for coordination of safety and health responsibilities and the procedures for communication between the host employer and staffing agency;
   * establish agreed upon temporary worker job duties which may not be changed by the host employer without staffing agency permission;
   * outline these responsibilities and procedures for coordination and communication through a written contract.

Employee participation:

The safety and health programs for the host employer and the staffing agency should:
   * provide temporary workers and their employee representatives the opportunity and ability to provide input to the safety and health program, incident investigations, recommendations for control  measures, and training and education;
   * provide temporary workers timely access to safety and health information; 
   * encourage temporary workers to raise safety and health concerns and to report injuries, illnesses, hazards and incidents and inform them how and to whom to make such reports;
   * identify and remove obstacles or barriers to participation or reporting.  

Hazard Identification and Assessment:  

The safety and health programs of the host and employer and staffing agency should include procedures for the identification and assessment of hazards and reporting and investigation of injuries, illnesses and incidents involving temporary workers. 

Hazard Assessment:
The host employer should perform a hazard assessment of the worksite prior to assignment of any temporary workers to identify possible safety and health hazards including and share the results of the hazard assessment with the staffing agency and/or any workers the host employer supervises. The host employer also should provide the staffing agency the right to conduct site visits and inspections, access to injury and illness records, and other relevant safety and health information. The host employer further should provide the staffing agency with a full disclosure of hazards by position, inclusive of Safety Data Sheets which identify hazardous substances in the workplace, so the staffing agency, in turn, can disclose hazards to temporary workers.

The staffing agency should obtain information on potential hazards and exposures at the host worksite prior to sending workers to the site. The staffing agency should conduct site visits or review the host's hazard assessment, the host employers' injury and illness records and other information. 

The host employer and staffing agency should provide timely notice to each other of any unsafe conditions or potential hazards that are identified.

Reporting of injuries, Illnesses and incidents: 
The host employer and staffing agency should establish and communicate to temporary workers procedures for the reporting of injuries, illnesses, hazards and incidents. Such procedures should:
   * Identify how and to whom temporary employees should report injuries, illnesses, hazards and incidents;
   * Identify which employer is the supervisory employer and responsible for recording the injuries and illnesses of temporary workers on the OSHA 300 log;  
   * Identify which employer is responsible for reporting a fatality, hospitalization, amputation or other severe injury to OSHA;
   * Provide for the timely notification and communication between the host employer and staffing agency of any injuries, illnesses, incidents, near misses or exposure to hazards involving temporary workers. 
Note: 
Under OSHA injury and illnesses recordkeeping and reporting regulations, the supervisory employer is required to maintain records of illnesses and injuries of temporary employees. In most cases this is the host employer since temporary workers are subject to the host employer's direction and supervision. If they are not, then the staffing agencies must record the illnesses and injuries on their own OSHA 300 logs. See OSHA's Temporary Worker Initiative- Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Requirements 

Investigations:
The host employer and staffing agency should establish procedures for the investigation of injuries, illnesses, incidents or reports of hazards involving temporary workers. Such procedures should provide for:
   * the staffing agency to access the worksite to conduct or participate in such investigations; 
   * communication and sharing of the results of any such investigations between the host employer and staffing agency and with temporary workers. 

Hazard Prevention and Control:

The safety and health program should provide for the control of hazards for temporary workers. The program should:
   * outline the measures, programs and procedures to control temporary workers' exposure to hazards and comply with applicable standards.

   * identify the employer(s) responsible for:
         o compliance with applicable OSHA standards; 
         o selecting, providing and maintaining personal protective equipment;
         o providing required medical assessments and surveillance.
      In most cases, it is likely that the host employer will be the most familiar with workplace hazards and control the workplace, conditions and workers' activities. The staffing agency should confirm that standard are complied with, hazards controlled and appropriate PPE selected and provided and that the host employer fulfills its duties.
      
   * provide for the evaluation of control measures to determine if:
         o control measures have been properly implemented;
         o control measures are effective;
         o additional or different control measures are needed.

      This information should be shared between the host employer and staffing agency.
 
Training and information:
The safety and health program should provide for safety and health training and information for temporary workers including:

   * Measures to ensure that temporary workers have the proper safety and health qualifications and certifications for their assignment; 
   * General and hazard and standard specific training prior to starting assignments; host employers should document this specific training and provide a copy of the documentation to the staffing firm.  The staffing firm should provide certification of general safety training to the host employer;

   * Safety and health orientation prior to starting assignments, including outlining the host employer and staffing responsibilities for safety and health, and procedures for workers to report hazards, injuries, illnesses, and incidents; 
   * Informing workers of their right to be protected against discrimination or retaliation for exercising safety and health rights and reporting injuries, illnesses and hazards. 
   * Safety and health training and information should be provided in a language and manner that the workers can understand.

The safety and health program should identify the types of training and information for which the host employer, staffing agency or both are responsible for providing.

Evaluation

Host employers and staffing agencies should regularly assess their injuries and illness programs to determine if they are effect or if there are deficiencies or areas for improvement. For injury and illness programs that pertain to temporary workers, the assessment should include an evaluation of:
   * Whether the safety and health programs provide the same level of protection to temporary workers as other employees.
   * Whether the responsibilities of host and employers and staffing agencies have been clearly identified, communicated and are being met. 
   * The effectiveness of the communication and coordination between staffing agencies and host employers, and recommendations for improvement.