OSHA and the American Staffing Association renew alliance

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has renewed its alliance with the American Staffing Association (ASA), Alexandria, Virginia, with the goal of protecting temporary employees from workplace hazards.

“It is part of our mission to make sure that at the end of every work shift, all temporary workers in the United States are able to go home safely to their families,” says Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Through our continued alliance with the ASA, we will increase outreach to staffing agencies and host employers and provide information and education that is essential to protecting temporary workers.”

During the five-year agreement, OSHA and ASA say they will continue to educate workers about their rights and train staffing firms and their clients on their responsibilities to protect workers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The partners say they will work together to distribute information on how to recognize and prevent workplace hazards and to further develop ways of communicating such to staffing firms, host employers and temporary workers.

Previous accomplishments include a webinar that discussed the safety and health obligations of host employers or clients using the services of staffing firms. Additionally, ASA provided its members with webinars focused on the shared responsibility of host employers and staffing agencies to workplace safety, Ebola-related liability challenges for staffing and recruiting firms and how to handle workplace incident investigations. 

Through its Alliance Program, OSHA works with unions, consulates, trade and professional organizations, faith- and community-based organizations, businesses and educational institutions to prevent workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. The purpose of each alliance is to develop compliance assistance tools and resources and to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities, OSHA says. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA inspections or any other enforcement benefits.