3 Tips to Effectively Manage Safety for Temporary Workers

Does your worksite have temporary workers? Temporary workers are paid by a staffing agency and are assigned to a host employer (the staffing firm's client) for both quick and long-term jobs. These jobs may be short-term or permanent but staffed by temporary workers. The host employer and the staffing agency are known as joint employers and are responsible for working together to protect temporary workers. However, the host employer is known as the supervising employer because they manage the temporary worker's daily job. Therefore, if a temporary worker gets hurt, OSHA can hold the staffing agency and the host employer responsible. Usually, if an injury occurs, the host employer gets higher fines because they are the supervising employer.

Temporary Worker Injuries

According to workers' compensation data, temporary workers are more likely to experience injuries or illnesses than non-temporary workers. Newness, unfamiliarity, inexperience, lack of or inadequate communication and training, and jobs that the temporary worker never planned to do are why temporary workers are more likely to be injured. When temporary workers arrive at a job site, they often are treated differently than regular employees. They usually get less or no on-site job-specific training. This, when combined with inexperience, can lead to severe injuries or even death.

Temporary Worker Tragedy

Take Lawrence Daquan "Day" Davis. He died on his first day as a temporary worker at a manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida. After filling out some paperwork and watching a short safety video, he started working within 15 minutes of arriving at the job site. Unfortunately, Davis received no on-the-job training about the potential hazards or proper safety procedures for the tasks he was asked to perform. A few hours into his shift, Davis was asked to help clean up broken glass caused by equipment malfunctioning. While he was under the machine cleaning up the glass, the machine unexpectedly turned back on, and he was crushed to death. Both host employers and staffing agencies need to work together to ensure that temporary workers are safe and that incidents like the one involving Davis never occur again. 

Tips for Protecting Temporary Workers

To protect temporary workers, host employers and staffing agencies should use the following tips:

Tip 1: Assess the Job

Before a contract is signed, the host employer and staffing agency should evaluate the hazards related to the jobs that the temporary workers are assigned to perform. The host employer and staffing agency must conduct a risk assessment, review the hazards and controls, and discuss the standard operating procedure. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements, chemicals to be used, applicable Safety Data Sheets (SDS), and necessary training that the temporary worker needs to know also must be reviewed. The staffing agency should visit the host employer's job site to assess the facility's general safety, including working conditions, and to see the safety program in action before sending their temporary workers over.

Tip 2: Establish Responsibilities in a Contract

There must be a clear understanding and effective communication of the staffing agency and host employer's roles in protecting temporary workers. Therefore, OSHA recommends that the staffing agency and the host employer define their responsibilities for compliance with OSHA standards in their contract and review them regularly. Ensuring these terms and obligations are in the contract will ensure that each company complies with their duties and regulatory requirements. In addition, a contract with specific details will avoid confusion and encourage accountability of the staffing agency and host employer's obligations.

Contracts should discuss the job details, including the approved tasks and the temporary workers' qualifications to perform the job. The contract should also include expected hazards and controls, the required PPE to be worn, the training the staffing agency and host employer will provide, and the language it will be presented. The contract should also discuss what to do if there are changes to the job description that the temporary worker was initially intended to perform.

Tip 3: Train Temporary Workers & Supervisors

Typically, the staffing agency provides general health and safety awareness training, and the host employer provides site- and job-specific safety training to the temporary worker. Host employers should train their temporary employees the same as regular employees. Even if the temporary worker is only assigned to work on a short-term task, they need identical training given to regular employees who perform the same or similar work.

Staffing Agency Training

The staffing agency's general health and safety training should include specific details of the assigned task, a summary of employer and worker responsibilities, workers' rights, and hazards and controls they may face while working at the host employer’s job site.

Host Employer Training

The host employer's site- and job-specific training should include:

• the tasks they are allowed and not allowed to do
• the machinery they are and are not allowed to use
• the hazards their job presents and how to control the hazards to prevent injury or illness
• the PPE they are required to wear, its limitations, and how to use, maintain, clean, and store it
• where to find SDS for the chemicals they are using
• how to report an injury, illness, or near-miss, and how to obtain medical treatment
• Emergency procedures for fire, active shooter, chemical spills, and inclement weather

Evaluate Knowledge

After the site- and job-specific training is presented to the temporary worker in a language they understand, their knowledge must be evaluated through a test. Suppose there are gaps in the employee's knowledge from the test results. In that case, the temporary worker must be retrained and reassessed to ensure they fully comprehend the safety and health requirements before going to work.

Document the training

The host employer should keep documented records of what training topic was given, the date, the names of the workers who received the training and instructors, and the test.

Supervisor's role

Supervisors of the temporary worker must be trained on what tasks and equipment they are allowed and not allowed to use. If there are changes in the job functions that the temporary worker was initially assigned, the temporary worker should not attempt to perform the new work until the host employer receives written permission from the staffing agency. Approval from the staffing agency ensures that the temporary worker is thoroughly trained and qualified to perform the new tasks. The procedure for job changes should be detailed in the contract. Unexpected job-duty changes are a root cause of temporary worker injuries or illnesses.

By following the tips above, host employers and staffing agencies will effectively keep temporary workers safe and healthy.