Between the host employer and the staffing agency, who is responsible for the health and safety training of temporary workers? The staffing agency and the host employer jointly employ temporary workers and, therefore, they each share some responsibility for training temporary workers.

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), “temporary workers are entitled to the same protections under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the OSH Act) as all other covered workers.” This means they must have the required skills and knowledge to safely perform their work.

Thus, the question arises, where does the staffing agency’s duty end and the host employer’s begin?

What Is the Staffing Agency’s Role in Training Temporary Employees?

The role of the staffing agency is to prepare its workers for temporary jobs with host employers. Staffing agencies should provide generic safety and health training so that their workers have a basic ability to identify hazardous situations and understand their rights if confronted with a hazardous situation. Staffing agencies should also ensure that temporary workers know how to report hazards, injuries, and illnesses to the staffing agency.

Additionally, staffing agencies are responsible for making sure that employees receive site-specific training by the host employer, and it should work collaboratively with the host employer to ensure this happens. If, for any reason, the staffing agency believes its workers have not received adequate site-specific training, it should work with the host employer to correct the situation or it should remove its employees from the worksite immediately.

Alternatively, the staffing agency may decide to conduct a walkthrough, identify potential hazards, and provide its own site-specific training before work begins.

The Host Employer’s Responsibility to Train Temporary Workers:

No one know the hazards of a specific job site better than the host employer. For this reason, the host employer is responsible for providing site-specific training to temporary workers. Host employers must also ensure that workers know how to identify and report hazards to the host employer.

As with any other covered employee, the host employers must also always protect temporary workers from unsafe working conditions and site-specific hazards.

When Should OSHA Safety Training for Temp Workers Take Place?

• Training must be completed before temporary workers begin work on a project. The staffing agency should provide generic safety and health training when hiring new employees, and the host employer should provide site-specific training when bringing temporary employees onto its project.
• In some situations, the staffing agency is familiar with the hazards of a particular worksite and may agree, in advance, to provide site-specific training, as well.
• No matter the arrangement, both host employers and staffing agencies must be on the same page and ensure that temporary workers receive adequate safety training before work begins.
• Note: training must also be in a language and vocabulary the worker understands. If the worker speaks Spanish, for example, training should be conducted in Spanish, and unskilled workers should not be trained with industry-specific or expert-level vocabulary.
• Ideally, which training the temporary worker receives, and when she or he receives it, should be documented by the staffing agency and the host employer. This documentation could be critical down the road in the event of an inspection or citation.

Recordkeeping Requirements for Temporary Employees

OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements can be difficult for staffing agencies and host employers to navigate together. Crucially, both staffing agencies and host employers must train temporary employees on the reporting process for all work-related injuries and illnesses and ensure that the temporary workers are involved in the recordkeeping process.

Both the staffing agency and host employer must have a system that allows temporary workers to promptly report incidents. Temporary workers should have no problem reporting incidents to either the staffing agency or host employer, and neither the agency nor employer should have policies discouraging reporting.

Do Temporary Workers Go on the OSHA 300 Log?

According to a 2003 standard interpretation of OSHA’s injury and illness recording and reporting requirements (contained in OSHA Standard 29 CFR Part 1904), host employers should not keep separate records for temporary employees, but temporary employees can appear in a different section of the same OSHA 300 log. Host employers must also use OSHA 300, 300-A, and 301 forms to report injuries and illnesses and uphold “the entire OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping responsibility.”

OSHA recognizes that a temporary worker who is injured on a project may not return to the same project after they have recovered. Host employers must make a good-faith effort to keep accurate records, and host employers and staffing agencies should communicate to satisfy recordkeeping requirements and produce accurate records upon OSHA’s request. The Federal Register clearly states: “the two employers have shared responsibilities and may share information when there is a need to do so.”

Joint Responsibility for Temporary Worker Safety

Per OSHA guidance, “neither employer may avoid their ultimate responsibilities under the OSH Act by requiring another party to perform them.”

Staffing agencies and host employers should communicate when necessary, and the details of training should be clearly stated in their contract.

Although host employers have the responsibility to provide temporary workers with a safe workplace, staffing agencies have the duty to send workers to a safe workplace. An error by either one could result in consequences for both.