The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited five companies in the December 2013 death of a temporary worker at an Amazon fulfillment center in Avenel, N.J.

Genco, a third-party logistics provider based in Pittsburgh, was cited for one serious violation for not certifying that a hazard assessment of the facility had been conducted before assigning employees to work. Genco was contracted by Amazon to direct the temporary employees from four staffing agencies involved in sorting operations, according to OSHA. The employees were required to monitor the conveyors and sorting machine to ensure packages were positioned properly while traveling over the conveyor and sorting belts.

OSHA also cited four temporary staffing agencies for a serious violation for failure to perform a hazard assessment of the facility before assigning employees to determine if hazards existed. Those firms cited include Abacus, Corporate Resource Services Inc.,  Remedy Intelligent Staffing Inc. and Staffmark.

Genco and the four temporary staffing agencies each face $6,000 in penalties proposed by OSHA and have 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

“Temporary staffing agencies and host employers are jointly responsible for the safety and health of temporary employees. These employers must assess the work site to ensure that workers are adequately protected from potential hazards,” said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA’s Avenel Area Office. “It is essential that employers protect all workers from job hazards — both temporary and permanent workers.”

In April 2013, OSHA announced an initiative to help protect temporary workers from workplace hazards.