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OSHA and NIOSH publish recommended practices to protect temporary workers [US]
- #OSHA
On August 25, 2014 the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) jointly released Recommended Practices to protect temporary workers. These practices for staffing agencies and host employers are intended to highlight the joint responsibility of staffing agencies and host employers to protect temporary workers and ensure a safe work environment.
The joint publication of the “Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers” by OSHA and NIOSH is the latest tool released as part of OSHA’s Temporary Worker Initiative, intended to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses among temporary workers. Both staffing agencies and host employers have a joint responsibility to provide a safe work environment for temporary workers. Temporary workers are entitled to the same protection as permanent workers.
The recommended practices publication encourages staffing agencies and host employers to cooperate and collaborate to ensure the health and safety of temporary workers. The publication is a guidance tool and in some instances represents best practices. The first step to ensuring a safe workplace is to evaluate the host employer’s worksite. OSHA and NIOSH suggest that the staffing agency and host employer should jointly review all worksites temporary workers may visit, the tasks the workers are likely to be assigned, and examine job hazard analyses to identify and eliminate potential safety and health hazards. The staffing agency should provide the host employer with each temporary worker’s training and competencies related to the work to be performed. If a staffing agency determines that the host employer has inadequate job hazard analyses, the agency should resolve those issues with the host employer. Staffing agencies may not have dedicated safety and health professionals, but agency representatives can be trained in basic safety principles and hazards commonly encountered by temporary workers. Training agency staff in basic safety and health principles can help the staffing agency and host employer identify and eliminate or reduce workplace hazards. Open communication between host employers and staffing agencies is an important way to ensure workplace safety. Both host employers and staffing agencies should review each other’s injury and illness prevention program. Host employers should request the safety training and certification records of the temporary workers supplied by the staffing agency. Some host employers in particular industries will only accept bids from staffing agencies that the host employer has previously identified as meeting a certain safety standards. Similarly, some staffing agencies will only supply workers to host employers who have effective safety programs. The contract should clearly state which employer is responsible for specific safety and health duties to avoid confusion. Both host employers and staffing agencies should inform the other if either becomes aware of an occupational injury or illness. Staffing agencies should be informed so that they are aware of the hazards their workers are exposed to, and host employers should be informed to prevent future injuries and ensure the injury or illness is properly recorded. Host employers and staffing agencies can create notification procedures to ensure that injury and illness information is shared effectively. Although OSHA and NIOSH recommend that both employers track injuries and illnesses, OSHA requires that the employer providing day-to-day supervision track any injuries or illnesses on the OSHA Injury and Illness Log. OSHA requires that all employees receive site- and task-specific training in a language that they understand. Host employers should ensure that temporary workers are provided with the same or equivalent training provided to their regular workers. Working together, staffing agencies and host employers can help to protect temporary workers and ensure that temporary workers receive the same protections as regular employees. EHS Legal CounselSources : OSHA and NIOSH, Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers, August 2014
OSHA and NIOSH, Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers, August 2014