Bloomberg BNA (08/15/13) Bruce Rolfsen

Inspectors from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were told April 29 to focus more on matters related to temporary employees. Since then, the number of inspections of temporary staffing firms has doubled compared with a year ago, according to OSHA inspection data. OSHA compliance officers are tracking when and where they find employees from temporary staffing firms at job sites that are facing inspection. They are making note of the temporary employees’ staffing firm, the firm’s location, who is supervising the employees, and how often temporary employees are being exposed to safety and health violations.

OSHA inspectors found between April 29 and mid-July that temporary employees were “exposed to safety and health violations” at 262 locations, according to Thomas Galassi, the head of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement.

According to Stephen Dwyer, general counsel for the American Staffing Association, since the April 29 directive, ASA and OSHA co-sponsored a webinar to address safety and health issues for temporary staffing agencies, and in late July association representatives met with OSHA officials, including OSHA administrator David Michaels. “The relationship has been a positive one,” Dwyer said.