Dive Brief:
- The American Staffing Association (ASA) and the National Safety Council (NSC) have announced the joint publication of a new case study that highlights the safety of temporary workers — and the rules and procedures to which both staffing agencies and host employers must adhere when ensuring workers' safety.
- The case study, which is based on a fictional scenario, takes past OSHA citations, specifically those concerning injuries to temporary workers, into consideration. It also trains agencies and employers to accurately determine which parties are responsible for recording injuries on OSHA Form 300 injury and illness logs.
- In the joint statement, the ASA and NSC offer three key recommendations to agencies and employers: Determine which party is best to provide safety/healthy protections and control workplace conditions and activities; adopt procedures to ensure obligations are fulfilled; and promptly notify all parties (including OSHA, when appropriate) in the event of an injury to a temporary worker.
Dive Insight:
Safety is key for fields that rely heavily on temporary workers, like construction. The release of this case study comes just weeks after OSHA awarded over $10 million in one-year federal and health safety grants for small employers in high-risk industries.
An increased emphasis on prevention of workplace violence, injury and health hazards is also much-needed after the ALF-CIO's 2014 report revealed more than 5,000 workers died on the job that year, with multiple others dying for workplace-related illnesses.
