OSHA Targets Staffing Agencies Issuing Fines & Penalties

OSHA Begins Targeting Staffing Agencies & Issuing Significant Fines & Penalties

UPDATE: OSHA continues to target staffing agencies with enforcement inspections to hold them accountable for failing to manage safety.

OSHA has begun following through on their recent threat to target staffing agencies for health & safety violations.

On July 15th, OSHA issued a memorandum regarding intentions to ramp up enforcement efforts directed at staffing agencies and host employers in an effort to protect “temporary workers”, as well as to provide general guidance to both staffing agencies and host employers, who are often considered “joint employers,” on their health and safety compliance responsibilities (including written programs, record keeping requirements, inspections, employee training, etc.). The memorandum also makes clear that both “joint employers’ are potentially liable for fines and penalties resulting from enforcement inspections.

Some actual examples of staffing agencies getting fined this summer:

July: Fresh From Texas Inc., and staffing agency iWorks Personnel Inc. have been cited for 18 violations by OSHA for exposing workers to noise, chemicals and uncontrolled energy. The total proposed fine is $135,200. $6,300 of the total fine was assessed to iWorks Personnel for failing to train their employees on chemical hazards.
July: OSHA inspectors found that temporary workers employed by Marathon Staffing Corp., while working at a company called Sterilite’s, were exposed to hearing hazards and were later fined $7,000 because the staffing agency failed to administer an effective hearing conservation program.
June: OSHA fined Sea Watch International $35,410 following the death of a worker in January 2014. The company was cited for failing to implement lockout/tagout procedures that protect workers who clean machinery. The agency also fined Workforce Unlimited Inc., who supplied temporary workers to the plant, $9,000 for lack of lockout/tagout procedures, lack of chemical hazard communication training and exposing workers to ladder hazards.
June: OSHA fined 4 different staffing agencies $6,000 each for failing to perform hazard assessments while working at an Amazon fulfillment center in New Jersey, following the death of a worker.
June: Maplewood Beverage Packers, of New Jersey, and Corporate Resource Services Corp., the agency that supplied labor to the bottling company, were fined $171,270 after an employee was injured falling from a latter. The staffing agency was fined $11,000 for failing to implement and maintain a hearing conservation program.

This recent trend is only going to get worse for the staffing industry as OSHA continues to ramp up this new enforcement initiative. In addition to OSHA fines and penalties, staffing agencies face potential civil and even criminal liability if their employees or injured or killed on the job, especially if the staffing agency can’t prove that it maintains an OSHA compliant health and safety program.

With such serious consequences for non-compliance, it’s become more critical than ever for staffing agencies to take immediate action to ensure that they’re in OSHA compliance AND remain in compliance.

Call 512-923-0374 or CLICK HERE to schedule a free consultation.

By Russell Carr|2022-03-21T12:50:50-05:00August 18th, 2014|Good To Know|Comments Off

About the Author: Russell Carr

How A Sales Guy Transformed Into An Environmental, Health & Safety Expert & Advocate For Small Businesses I've spent my entire 30+ year career working within the manufacturing and “industrial services” sectors. The first 15 years of my career focused on sales of hazardous materials related products and services to the manufacturing sector, then for the last 16+ years transitioned into entrepreneurship, founding 3 small industrial services related contracting businesses. As you’ll see below, running these companies eventually lead me to found yet a 4th business, but more on that in a minute…. Here’s a brief description of the first 3 companies: Berg Environmental Services, Inc.: hazardous waste disposal & transportation services, founded in August of 2003 3rd party wind energy operations & maintenance services provider to utility scale wind farms throughout the US, founded in September 2007 3rd party oil & gas exploration & production services provider, founded in August of 2011 Each of these companies operated in extremely dangerous working conditions and exposed my employees to a wide range of serious health & safety hazards on a daily basis. To complicate matters, 2 of the companies also exposed the environment to significant potential harm. In other words, I learned very early the critical importance of managing environmental, health and safety issues so as to ensure the safety of our employees and the environment, as well as minimizing related risks. But I also learned how incredibly difficult and challenging this endeavor can be due to the wide range of complicated and continually changing environmental, health and safety rules and regulations that impacted the companies. To summarize the challenges: First I had to determine which regulations applied to each company, then I had to build compliance programs to meet those regulations, and finally I had to ensure that the programs were being managed and followed by our staff on a daily basis. All while trying to run and grow 3 profitable businesses…. It was overwhelming and I always struggled to keep up. To make matters worse, throughout this time I also witnessed the devastating price that companies, management and ownership can pay for failing to manage EHS compliance. This included seeing one of my hazardous waste management clients get sent to jail over environmental issues, another client’s management team threatened with jail time, a direct competitor get fined $378,000 by OSHA fine after an employee was nearly killed, and many others face major fines and penalties. Full disclosure, one of my companies got fined by OSHA at one point, & another was cited by TCEQ, so I know how it feels. In summary, I learned first hand how incredibly difficult it is for small companies to manage EHS compliance due to a common lack of the critical expertise, time and resources that are needed to keep up, and how this situation then ends up exposing them to these potentially catastrophic risks that can literally destroy lives and businesses. This later inspired me to found my 4th company, Berg Compliance Solutions in 2012, which is dedicated to helping other small businesses, and business owners, to manage EHS compliance and risk. Education BA, Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, December, 1990. Summary of Professional Experience & Qualifications: 30+ years serving the manufacturing & industrial services sectors 30+ years of sales and marketing experience 16+ years as small business owner & entrepreneur: Founded and operated 4 small businesses since 2003. Environmental, Health & Safety Compliance & Program Related: 19 plus years of hazardous waste management including EPA, TCEQ & RCRA regulations 8 years of DOT/FMCSA compliance experience, including hazardous materials transportation 8 years of combined experience implementing and managing OSHA health and safety compliance programs for 2 high risk energy services businesses Successfully implemented and gained ISO 9001 Quality Management Certification and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Service) Certification for wind energy maintenance business. Regulatory Enforcement Related Experience: Served as expert witness in criminal environmental compliance enforcement cases Superfund-CERCLA OSHA enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in following industries: industrial services, manufacturing & construction. TCEQ enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in manufacturing.

OSHA Targets Staffing Agencies Issuing Fines & Penalties