multi-employer worksite doctrine

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By Brent I. Clark, Meagan Newman, and Craig B. Simonsen

OSHA has just announced its first in a series of guidance documents concerning compliance with safety and health requirements when temporary workers are employed under joint (or dual) employment of a staffing agency and a host employer. TWI Bulletin No. 1.

We had blogged previously about Administrator David…
Continue Reading OSHA Publishes First in Series of Temporary Worker Initiative Guidance Documents – Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Requirements

By Brent I. Clark and Meagan Newman

In a recent op-ed OSHA’s top administrator, David Michaels, makes clear that OSHA’s temporary worker focus, announced earlier this year, is here to stay.

We blogged earlier this year when the initiative was announced. In the op-ed Michaels draws a direct connection between the length of time on the job and the…
Continue Reading Michaels Opines on OSHA’s Temporary Worker Focus: Emphasis on Training

By Mark A. Lies II, Meagan Newman, and Kerry Mohan

Citing recent reports of deaths of temporary employees, many of which have occurred on the first day of the job, OSHA issued a memorandum this week to its Regional Administrators outlining new measures to protect the health and safety of temporary employees.  The agency is making a concerted effort…
Continue Reading OSHA Zeroes in on Temporary Worker Issues

By Brent I. Clark and Meagan Newman

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 2.5 million temporary workers were on U.S. payrolls last month.  This figure does not include farm workers.  While employers see advantages to using temp workers they must also be cognizant of the potential liability for workplace safety and health of those workers.

With very…
Continue Reading Temp Employees Bring OSHA Liability

By Meagan Newman, Elizabeth Leifel Ash, and Craig B. Simonsen

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) use of constructive knowledge to impose liability on employers arising from activities at workplaces where more than one employers employees are working. In Summitt Contractors, Inc. v Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, No.
Continue Reading DC Circuit Court Finds Constructive Knowledge Sufficient to Impose Multi-Employer Liability

By Mark A. Lies II and Elizabeth Leifel Ash

On August 17, 2009, three journeymen electricians from M. C. Dean (Dean), an outside contractor, were servicing electrical installations at a warehouse owned by Ryder Transportation Services (Ryder).  One of the journeymen electricians fell through a skylight on the warehouse roof and suffered fatal injuries.  Following this accident, the Occupational Safety and…

Continue Reading “Am I Management?” New OSHA Case Blurs Lines Between Employees And Supervisors During Inspections

By Mark A. Lies II and Timothy R. Gerlach[1]

It is a fact of everyday business life that many employers will, from time to time, be required to  engage outside contractors to perform a variety of services at the employer’s facility that the employer cannot perform with its own employees.  Recently, OSHA has begun to expand the employer’s liability for…

Continue Reading OSHA Expansion of Fall Hazard Liability for Host Employers