CWS 3.0: June 18, 2014

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Temp deaths lead to OSHA citations against buyers/suppliers

Several companies were recently handed citations in fatal injuries of contingent workers — one at an Amazon fulfillment center. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week announced citations against two buyers and five staffing firms in two separate incidents. They were moves that helped highlight the importance of safety.

OSHA has made temporary worker safety a special issue this year, and the agency had signed an alliance for temporary worker safety in May with the American Staffing Association.

However, contingent worker safety is always a concern, said Bryan Peña, vice president of contingent workforce strategies and research at Staffing Industry Analysts. Even if a temporary staffing contract has indemnification clauses, OSHA compliance responsibility typically rests with the site holder.

“Under OSHA rules, client companies are responsible for ensuring a safe work environment,” Peña said. “It’s in no one’s best interest to ignore keeping a safe work environment.”

One incident highlighted by OSHA involved a worker at an Amazon fulfillment center in Avenel, N.J., who was caught in a conveyor system while performing sorting operations and crushed.

It happened Dec. 4, 2013, but OSHA announced the citations last week. Genco, a third-party logistics supplier contracted by Amazon, was cited for one serious violation for not certifying that a hazard assessment of the facility had been conducted.

Genco was ordered to pay $6,000 in penalties, although it may contest the citation.

OSHA didn’t cite Amazon. However, the company said in a statement “any accident that occurs in a facility is one too many and we take these matters seriously.”

Four temporary staffing suppliers were also cited in the same incident for one serious violation each of failure to perform a hazard assessment of the facility before assigning employees, according to OSHA. The firms included Abacus-The Corporate Services Co., Corporate Resource Services Inc., Remedy Intelligent Staffing Inc. and Staffmark. All four faced penalties of $6,000 each.

“Temporary staffing agencies and [the] host employer are jointly responsible for the safety and health of temporary employees,” said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA’s Avenal area office. “These employers must assess the worksite to ensure that workers are adequately protected from potential hazards … It is essential that employers protect all workers from job hazards — both temporary and permanent workers.”

Separately, OSHA reported it is investigating another fatality at an Amazon fulfillment center that happened June 1 in Carlisle, Penn.

OSHA also announced citations last week against Sea Watch International Ltd. and staffing firm Workforce Unlimited for an incident on Jan. 16 that left a contingent worker dead.

The worker, a 35-year-old sanitation supervisor, was caught in the rotating parts of a shucking machine he was cleaning at Sea Watch International Ltd.’s New Bedford, Mass., plant, OSHA reported. The worker was identified as Victor Gerena by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, a private group.

Sea Watch’s proposed fines total $35,410. OSHA also cited Workforce Unlimited, a Johnston, R.I.-based temporary employment agency, for penalties of $9,000. The companies can still contest the findings.

Sea Watch employs 15 full-time workers at its New Bedford plant, and 185 of the temporary workers at the plant were supplied by Workforce Unlimited, according to OSHA. Sea Watch was cited for failing to implement lockout/tagout procedures that protect workers who clean machinery, according to OSHA.

Workforce Unlimited was cited for three serious violations for lack of lockout/tagout procedures, lack of chemical hazard communication training and for exposing workers to ladder hazards, according to OSHA. Workforce Unlimited Inc. was cited as a joint employer because it had a supervisor on-site with knowledge of the working conditions.

“Host employers need to treat temporary workers as they treat existing employees,” said Robert Hooper, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for New England. “It is essential that both employers and staffing agencies comply with all relevant OSHA requirements.”

For the latest Staffing Industry Review article on temporary workers and safety, click here.