OSHA Calling For Reform For Benefits To Temporary Employees

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is calling for a reform that would provide temporary employees with the same benefits and training that permanent employees hold within a company. An agency that provides temporary workers to various businesses committed a serious violation in 2014 and has since been called upon to improve their conditions for all employees. Marathon Staffing Services Inc. was called into question when it became evident that they did not administer hearing tests for their employees who were consistently exposed to elevated noise levels while working for Concrete Systems Inc. based out of Hudson, New Hampshire.

According to reports detailing the new agreement that has since been put into place, Marathon Staffing Services is required to have a qualified health and safety professional review a checklist that details possible safety and health concerns present in the work environment. Once the health and safety professional has acquired a direct list of concerns, they will then be able to move forward in the process in terms of conducting an initial inspection. From there, they will also hold periodic inspections and audits to ensure that the conditions displayed at these workplaces are meeting each of the standards OSHA has in place.

In addition to the mandated inspections, Marathon will also be required to provide necessary training to account executives and sales representatives to ensure that their health and safety knowledge is comprehensive. Marathon is also asked to develop written contracts that are specific to each individual client that works with them—an initiative that will detail what the respective requirements will be for each workplace that will be supplied with temporary employees via Marathon Staffing Services Inc. These contracts will ensure that each client is fully complying with the health and safety standards being put into place by OSHA in hopes of protecting all employees in the future. Kim Stille, the New England regional administrator for OSHA, has said that “Both host employers and staffing agencies have critical roles in complying with workplace health and safety requirements.”

Whether the employees are part-time, full-time, temporary or permanent, even those workers that are hired to specifically be one day laborers—everyone will be included in this reform. Each individual worker is important, and ensuring that their health and safety is being monitored and enforced is just the first step toward creating equality in the workplace. Michael Felsen, OSHA’s regional solicitor in New England, has said that he believes workers should be provided with an environment that “…enables them to come home each day safe and healthy,” a sentiment that may seem long overdue for some employees.

Marathon Staffing Inc. is just one rung on the ladder. OSHA hopes that they can enforce these same safety initiatives with other temporary employment suppliers in the future. Marathon operates in a large number of cities and states across the country, helping over 15,000 people find employment within other companies. Since OSHA started this movement back in 2013, these are the types of results they were hoping to see through their efforts. So far, it seems to be working in their favor.  As Massachusetts workers compensation lawyers we are constantly following the latest reforms and legislative movements in the area of workers rights and benefits. Our Workers comp lawyers have decades of experience in handling work injury cases  if you or a loved one has been injured on the job give one of our attorneys a call today for a free initial case consultation.

 

Quotes and additional information may be found at the following link: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=28155

 

 

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