MOU ZHENG LAW FIRM
Why Do Temporary Workers Incur Greater Risks?
Skillful worker attending brief meeting in the factory . Industrial people and manufacturing labor concept .
OSHA requires both host employers and staffing agencies to uphold the many protections that promote the safety and health of temporary workers. Although both entities are equally responsible for protecting workers, temporary employees continue to incur greater injury rates than their permanently employed counterparts. Much of this may result from the confusion that staffing agencies and host employers tend to have when it comes to which entity bears responsibility for maintaining these essential occupational standards, despite OSHA clearly laying out the rules.
There are several other reasons for the variety of preventable safety issues that temporary workers 窗体顶端窗体底端face, including:
• Temporary workers are usually new on a job or jobsite, which is a known contributor to occupational injuries and illnesses
• Temporary workers tend to be younger than permanent workers. Young workers sustain more injuries than older workers
• Temporary workers are less likely to provide proper and adequate training before initiating a job, regardless of how new they are to it or how dangerous the job may be
• Host employers or staffing agencies may not provide temporary workers with the personal protective equipment, or PPE, that they need
• Host employers may require temporary employees to perform tasks they are not familiar – or not comfortable – with performing. This can cause them to be at a greater risk for sustaining avoidable injuries
How To Protect Temporary Employees
Host employers must remember to treat temporary workers the same as all other employees, affording them the same safeguards and protections as anyone else on the jobsite. In addition, OSHA requires staffing agencies and host employers to uphold other key responsibilities, like:
• Staffing agencies must provide workers with general safety training prior to initiating a job. Once the temporary employee is at the job, federal guidelines require the host employer to provide job-specific training
• There must be open, clear communication between the staffing agency and the host employer
• Just like the employer must recognize and remedy recognizable workplace hazards, the staffing agency, too, must educate itself on any potential work-associated hazards that temporary employees can encounter
• The staffing agency must verify the safety of any workplace that they consider sending temporary • employees to before completing any subsequent job placements
• Staffing agencies must confirm that the host employer has fulfilled its duty to provide a safe and healthful workplace
When Should a Temporary Worker Talk to a Lawyer About His or Her Injuries?
Although some staffing agencies and host employers honor their legal responsibility to maintain the numerous federal safety and health standards that pertain to temporary and contract employees, too many neglect their duties to make a quick buck. Not only is this behavior unethical, but it is also illegal. When a worker sustains injuries or becomes ill on the job, he or she is eligible to file for workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that provides injured workers with medical benefits and wage replacement.
