New OSHA Temporary Worker Rules Protect Them from Hazards

On “Workers Memorial Day,” OSHA sent out a memorandum regarding efforts to protect temporary workers from workplace hazards. To better identify these workers, the agency needs your assistance gathering and tracking certain information during inspections and investigations of worksites where temps are employed. To capture this information, OSHA has created a new OIS code for temporary workers.

What does this mean to you as an employer?

• OSHA inspectors will be determining whether or not your company employs temporary personnel;
• OSHA inspectors will be poring through training records and interviewing personnel to determine “whether those workers have in fact received required training in a language and vocabulary they understand.”
• OSHA inspectors will “document the name of the temporary workers’ staffing agency, the agency’s location and the supervising structure under which the temporary workers are reporting.”
• OSHA will be tracking temporary workers employment using a new coding system.

If you use temporary employees, now would be a good time to go over this new development with your temp agency. Send them the link to this blog.

Make certain that employees are trained as required and document that training, regardless of whether it is provided by your company or the agency.

Irony: We’ll let you know if we find any evidence of OSHA actually providing any “concerted effort of outreach and training” on this issue.

 

Originally posted on PMPASpeakingofPrecision.com blog.