OSHA’s Initiative Designed to Protect Temporary Workers

April 30, 2013
U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched an initiative to further protect temporary employees from workplace hazards

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched an initiative to further protect temporary employees from workplace hazards.

OSHA sent a memorandum to the agency’s regional administrators directing field inspectors to assess whether employers who use temporary workers are complying with their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Inspectors will use a newly created code in their information system to denote when temporary workers are exposed to safety and health violations.
Additionally, they will assess whether temporary workers received required training in a language and vocabulary they could understand. The memo, which can be viewed at http://s.dol.gov/ZM, underscores the duty of employers to protect all workers from hazards.

In addition, OSHA has begun working with the American Staffing Association and employers that use staffing agencies, to promote best practices ensuring that temporary workers are protected from job hazards.

In recent months, OSHA has received a series of reports about temporary workers suffering fatal injuries – many during their first days on a job. OSHA has issued citations when the employer failed to provide adequate protections, including safety training.