The relationship between a company and their temporary workers is unique to say the least. Let’s use Company ABC as an example. Company ABC does not hire, fire, pay, or provide benefits for a temporary worker, nor does their workers’ compensation policy provide coverage.
However, that temporary worker does perform job duties for Company ABC’s just like any other regular employee; they are required to follow the company’s policies; and they are exposed to the same safety protections/hazards as any other regular employee.
So where does OSHA stand on temporary workers? It all comes down to by whom the worker was supervised by when the injury occurred. If a worker who is employed by the staffing agency is injured while performing work duties for Company ABC, while under the supervision of Company ABC, the injury must be recorded on Company ABC’s OSHA 300 log (assuming there was treatment beyond first aide).
OSHA standard 1904.31(a) Covered Employees says:
“You must record on the OSHA 300 Log the recordable injuries and illnesses of all employees on your payroll, whether they are labor, executive, hourly, salary, part-time, seasonal, or migrant workers. You also must record the recordable injuries and illnesses that occur to employees who are not on your payroll if you supervise these employees on a day-to-day basis…”
It is also important to note that OSHA does not want the injury recorded on both companies’ log. Doing so would skew industry wide statistics.
In the event that the temporary worker and company relationship is ended prior to full recovery of the injury, Company ABC must continue to count restricted and lost time days. How? The OSHA recordkeeping Handbook says on page 119 that the two employers have a shared responsibility and may share information when there is a need to do so, i.e. for workers’ compensation claims and for OSHA recordkeeping purposes.
It also states that the controlling employer (Company ABC) “must make reasonable efforts to acquire necessary information in order to satisfy Part 1904, but may be able to show that it is not feasible to comply with an OSHA recordkeeping requirement.”
Therefore, it is recommended that companies and staffing agencies keep record of communications, (and attempts to communicate if no response was received), regarding information needed to comply with OSHA recordkeeping requirements. This would serve as a defense if OSHA were to issue a citation for deficient entries.
Here is a link to OSHA’s website regarding covered employees. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.31
Thank you for reading! I hope you found this helpful.