The Controlling Employer Trap: Managing Contractor Safety Without Taking the Blame

There is a comforting myth in facilities management: "I hired a professional contractor to do that dangerous job so I wouldn't have to worry about the liability." It sounds logical. You pay a specialist to fix the roof or repair the high-voltage panel because they have the skills and the safety gear. But under OSHA's Multi-Employer Citation Policy, your responsibility does not end when they sign in at the front desk. In fact, if you mismanage the relationship, you can be cited alongside them for their violations. This is the "Controlling Employer" trap, and it catches competent businesses off guard every year.

The Four Roles: Which One Are You?

OSHA categorizes employers on a shared worksite into four roles. You can be more than one at a time.

1. The Exposing Employer: Your own employees are exposed to the hazard. This is the standard liability everyone understands. 2. The Creating Employer: Your team created a hazard (like leaving a hole in the floor) that endangers others. 3. The Correcting Employer: You are specifically hired to fix a hazard (like the roofer). 4. The Controlling Employer: This is you. You own the site or manage the contract. You have the power to demand safety compliance or kick someone off the property.

Because you have that power, OSHA expects you to use it. If a contractor is working on your roof without fall protection and you walk past them every morning without saying a word, OSHA views that as your failure too. You controlled the site, you saw the hazard, and you did nothing.

The "Less Than" Standard

The key to survival is understanding the standard of care. OSHA does not expect you to be an expert in the contractor's trade. You don't need to know how to wire the transformer, but you do need to know that the electrician shouldn't be standing in a puddle of water while doing it.

The agency requires you to exercise "reasonable care." This means you must conduct some inspections, but you are not expected to inspect as frequently or as deeply as the contractor inspects their own people. It’s a balance. If you never look, you are negligent. If you supervise every turn of the wrench, you might accidentally blur the lines of employment and take on even more liability. Aim for the middle: verify, don't supervise.

Vetting: The First Line of Defense

Your defense starts before the contract is signed. You must vet contractors for safety. Ask for their Experience Modification Rate (EMR). A number over 1.0 means they have more claims than average—a red flag. Ask for their OSHA 300 logs for the last three years. Ask to see their safety manual.

If you hire a contractor with a terrible safety record and they hurt someone on your site, the argument that you "exercised reasonable care" falls apart. You hired a known risk. Document this vetting process. "Contractor selection criteria included safety performance review" is a powerful sentence in your files.

The Pre-Job Meeting

Before tools come out, have a meeting. Discuss the specific hazards of your site. Are there forklifts operating where they will be working? Are there chemical lines they need to avoid? Exchange emergency procedures. Tell them explicitly: "We require 100% fall protection on this site. If we see a violation, work stops."

This sets the ground rules. It proves you are fulfilling your controlling employer duty by communicating site-specific hazards that the contractor couldn't know about.

Inspecting Without Micromanaging

Once work begins, check in. Walk the job site occasionally. Look for the obvious "plain view" hazards: lack of PPE, blocked exits, unsafe ladder use, missing guards. If you see something, say something—but say it to the contractor's foreman, not the individual worker.

"Hey, your guy is up there without a harness" is the right conversation. It respects the chain of command and forces the contractor to manage their people. If you start directing the individual workers on how to do the job, you risk crossing the line into becoming their direct supervisor, which brings a whole new set of legal headaches.

Documentation: The "Correct" in Corrective Action

If you spot a hazard and the contractor fixes it, write it down. "Observed contractor employees without safety glasses. Informed Foreman Smith. Foreman Smith distributed glasses and held immediate toolbox talk. Issue resolved."

This log proves two things: you were watching (duty of care) and you acted (enforcement). It separates you from the negligent landlord who ignores the problem.

The Walk-Off Power

Finally, your ultimate control is the contract itself. It should clearly state that serious or repeated safety violations are grounds for immediate termination of the contract. You may never have to use it, but having that clause demonstrates to OSHA that you take your controlling role seriously.

Contractors are essential partners, but they operate in your house. You don't need to hold their hand, but you do need to make sure they don't burn the house down.

Next step: Use the Worksafely SMB Contractor Management module to digitize your vetting checklists and track safety performance reviews for every vendor.