The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has released a report on the role that OSHA can play in developing health and safety protections for temporary workers, available here. The crucial details include the following: 1. OSHA should place responsibilities on temp agencies and employers that hire workers through temp agencies, which apply on a joint and respective basis; 2. All workers should be educated about their rights under OSHA by temp agencies, and ideally temp workers should receive health and safety training in accordance with a policy developed by OSHA; 3. OSHA should create a National Emphasis Program for “high-hazard industries” that depend on temp agencies; 4. Some injury reports do not make it to OSHA, because the injuries are reported to temp agencies rather than to the companies under which the injuries occur—as such, OSHA should include temp agencies when they gather data about worker injuries. WNYCOSH is pleased with these developments and their positive implications for the lives o
