Temporary Workers Entitled to Safety Too

Workers who go through temporary employment agencies may be more vulnerable to workplace injuries than other employees, the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration says.

On average, nearly 3 million temporary and contract workers are employed each day in the United States. A century ago, day laborers were used almost exclusively for construction and agricultural jobs; today, they work in a wide variety of jobs such as nursing, accounting, retail, construction, and security.

Many temporary workers are assigned to jobs no one else wants. All too often, these are also some of the most dangerous jobs in manufacturing and construction work. Worse, some employers and employment agencies fail to ensure safety when it comes to temporary workers. OSHA is seeking to raise awareness among employers and temporary employment agencies of their joint responsibility to maintain safe working conditions.

OSHA promulgates and enforces workplace safety standards. Employers are required by law to comply with OSHA standards. Unfortunately, some employers and temporary staffing agencies think OSHA rules and regulations do not apply to temporary workers. The truth, however, is that both an employer using a temporary worker and the temporary employment agency have a legal duty to protect the worker.

For example, a worker should never be sent to a job site without a clear understanding of the work to be performed and the training necessary to perform the job. Lack of proper training is one of the leading reasons temporary workers suffer workplace injuries. Workers are often sent to construction sites or to other hazardous workplaces without training or proper safety equipment. An employer cannot ignore the requirements for training and safety equipment simply because a worker is not a permanent employee.

Ignorance No Excuse

The specific facts and circumstances of the contractual arrangement among an employer, an agency and a worker will determine the extent of an employer’s or agency’s duty to protect a worker; however, in no case should a worker be unprotected while employed in a temporary job.

As OSHA points out: “A key concept is that each employer should consider the hazards it is in a position to prevent and correct, and in a position to comply with OSHA standards.” OSHA wants both employers and agencies to understand that ignorance of the law will not be accepted as an excuse if a temporary worker is injured in a workplace accident. Both the employer and the staffing agency have a duty to keep temporary workers safe.