Workplace safety should always be a top priority for any company. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case – especially when it comes to the temporary workforce. Temporary workers are often placed in hazardous jobs without proper safety training, rendering them more susceptible to workplace injuries.
When employers fail to protect any of their employees, they face extreme legal ramifications. With OSHA’s new safety laws being set in motion, the consequences of temporary employee incidents have become much more serious.
The Occupational Safety And Health Administration (OSHA) recently formed the Temporary Worker Initiative, a movement to secure greater safety measures – and promote a more serious attitude toward them – for the temporary workforce. This initiative sprang from findings that as the temporary workforce increases, so do temporary worker injuries and fatalities.
The most frequent on-site violations of workplace safety for companies that employ temporary workers include:
- Electrical hazards
- Hazards requiring lockout/tag out
- Machine guarding
- Fall protection
- Hazard communication
- Powered industrial trucks
With these dangerous occurrences on the rise, it was necessary to establish a workplace safety initiative, for which OSHA stresses that both employers AND staffing agencies are responsible for ensuring safety standards. Maintaining a safe work environment for temporary workers is a joint responsibility that both the staffing firm and the employer must be strongly committed to. Therefore, it’s essential to partner with a staffing agency that makes workplace safety and training a standard part of its service package.
Finding The Funds To Protect Temporary Workers
Protecting your temporary workers, just like your full-time employees, from hazardous workplace situations doesn’t come without a cost. And too many employers cut corners when it comes to preventative training, safety precautions and overall workplace safety budget.
If budget issues are keeping you from ensuring workplace safety, there are several government programs and resources available through OSHA.gov to assist in developing and maintaining a safer work environment:
- Compliance Assistance Webpage – helps employers understand and comply with OSHA requirements
- Compliance Assistance Specialists – available in every state to provide local assistance in your area of concern
- Spanish Language Resources
- On-Site Consultation Program – Free, confidential advice to small and medium-sized employers (priority given to high-hazard workplaces)
- Yearly Nationwide Campaigns – Heat Illness Prevention Campaign, Fall Prevention Campaign, etc.
If nothing else, reprioritize your budget and place a greater emphasis on workplace hazard prevention. It’s critical to protect your company’s most valuable asset: your employees. And the safety of your temporary workforce is no less important than that of your full-timers.
Looking To The Future Of Workplace Safety
For more information on OSHA’s workplace safety guidelines, categorized by state, visit their website now. It is no longer the responsibility of staffing agencies or companies alone to ensure workplace safety: It must be a joint effort from both parties.
The OSHA Temporary Worker Initiative is a stepping-stone to the legislative action to be taken for those not adhering to workplace safety regulations. So make sure your company is enforcing the OSHA Temporary Worker Initiative as well as partnering with a staffing firm that understands and respects it. Make protecting your temporary employees a top priority.
Need assistance in taking the appropriate precautions to protect your temporary employees? Partner with a staffing firm that holds workplace safety in high regard. Click below or call 888-459-9922 to start the conversation about your staffing solutions with one of The Performance Group’s professional staffing strategists.
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