Temporary Workers in the Holiday Surge: The "Dual Employer" Liability

The warehouse is overflowing. Orders are backed up. You call the staffing agency: "Send me ten people tomorrow morning." They arrive, they punch in, and they go to work. Three hours later, one of them puts their hand into a conveyor because nobody told them where the nip point was.

Who is liable? The staffing agency who pays them? Or you, the "Host Employer" who supervises them?

OSHA’s answer is: Both of you.

The Joint Responsibility Doctrine

OSHA treats temporary workers under a "Joint Employer" doctrine. The agency assumes that the staffing agency and the host employer share control over the worker, and therefore share responsibility for their safety. You cannot outsource your safety duty just because you outsource the payroll.

If a temp gets hurt, OSHA will often cite both companies. The staffing agency gets cited for failing to vet your site or provide general training. You get cited for the specific hazards on your floor.

The Division of Training

To stay compliant, you must draw a line on who trains on what.

• Staffing Agency: Handles general safety training. They should teach the worker about HazCom symbols, bloodborne pathogens basics, and general rights under the OSH Act.
• Host Employer (You): Handles site-specific training. You must teach them about your specific chemicals, your specific forklift traffic patterns, your Lockout/Tagout procedures, and your emergency exits.

You cannot assume the agency trained them on your specific press brake. How could they? They don't have your machine. If you throw a temp onto a machine without the same safety orientation you give a permanent hire, you are negligent.

PPE: Who Pays?

This is a common friction point. Who buys the steel-toed boots? Who buys the safety glasses? The contract should spell this out. However, OSHA holds the host employer responsible for ensuring the worker uses the PPE.

If the temp shows up without safety glasses and you let them work because "the agency didn't send them with any," you are liable. Have a stock of visitor PPE ready. If they don't have it, they don't work.

The Language Barrier

Holiday surges often bring in diverse workforces. If your new temporary crew speaks primarily Spanish, and your safety orientation is a 15-minute video in English, you have not trained them. OSHA requires training to be in a "language and vocabulary the worker understands."

If you rely on a bilingual employee to translate on the fly, you are taking a risk. Are they translating "Emergency Stop" correctly? Use translated materials or verified interpreters.

Recordkeeping for Temps

If a temporary worker is injured on your site and you supervise their day-to-day activities (which you almost certainly do), you record the injury on your OSHA 300 log.

Do not send the injury back to the staffing agency's log. This is the most common recordkeeping mistake with temps. The logic is simple: the injury happened in your house, under your supervision, due to your hazards. It belongs on your record.

Treat temporary workers like short-term employees, not spare parts. Orient them. Train them. Watch them. If you wouldn't let your son or daughter do the job with the training provided, don't let the temp do it either.

Next step: Use the Worksafely SMB "Temp Worker Onboarding Checklist" to ensure you cover the site-specific basics before they hit the floor.