OSHA rules for temporary workers: what staffing agencies and host employers each owe

OSHA treats a staffing agency and its client, the host employer, as joint employers of temporary workers, so both are responsible for their safety. In practice, the host usually controls the worksite, gives site-specific training, supplies most PPE and, because it supervises day to day, records temps' injuries on its OSHA 300 log under 29 CFR 1904.31. The agency gives general safety training, must inquire into and verify conditions at each client before and during placements, and can be cited if it knew or should have known of a hazard. As of October 2026 this rests on OSHA's Temporary Worker Initiative guidance, not a separate standard.

Our staffing agency insurance page mentions OSHA only in passing, and joint employer liability covers the NLRB and wage-and-hour tests. This page is the safety side: who does what under the OSH Act when you place temps in a warehouse, plant or construction site.

Why does OSHA hold both the agency and the client responsible?

OSHA launched its Temporary Worker Initiative on April 29, 2013. Its July 2014 policy memo to field staff explains the joint-employer view: "the staffing agency often controls a worker's paycheck and selects the host employer location where the worker will be sent. The host employer, in turn, assigns the particular work to be done each day and controls operations in the physical workplace." OSHA's Protecting Temporary Workers page draws the practical rule: "each employer should consider the hazards it is in a position to prevent and correct", and host employers "must treat temporary workers like any other workers in terms of training and safety and health protections."

The memo also tells inspectors that when a temp is exposed to a violation, OSHA "will consider issuing citations to either or both of the employers", and that an inspection should be opened with the agency if a temp "is or could be exposed to a serious hazard" or the agency "does not appear to have taken any actions to learn of the conditions at the host's worksite". Having an agency representative on site is not the test.

Who does what? The division OSHA describes

The 2014 memo adds the limit that matters for contracts: "the contract's allocation of responsibilities may not discharge either party's obligations under the Act."

Who logs a temp's injury on the OSHA 300 log?

29 CFR 1904.31(b)(2) answers the question for businesses that use temps: "You must record these injuries and illnesses if you supervise these employees on a day-to-day basis." Paragraph (b)(4) says the agency does not also record them; the two employers "should coordinate your efforts to make sure that each injury and illness is recorded only once".

OSHA's first TWI bulletin defines day-to-day supervision as controlling "the details, means, methods and processes by which the work is to be accomplished", and says an agency team lead who relays the host's orders but cannot override them is not a supervisor for this purpose. Its example is a temp machine operator who loses a finger on day two: the host records it, should tell the agency, and can be cited if it fails to record. Both employers should set up a way for temps to report injuries promptly, and OSHA law prohibits retaliation for reporting.

What training must a temp get, and from whom?

TWI Bulletin 4 says training "must be completed before the worker begins work on a project" and "must be in a language and vocabulary the worker understands". The agency is usually responsible for generic training so that workers can identify and report hazards and know their rights; the host is usually responsible for site-specific training. The agency "must have a reasonable basis for believing that the host employer's training adequately addresses the potential hazards". If it does not, it should tell the host and agree adequate training, provide training itself, or remove its workers.

Forklifts are the common case on light industrial orders. Under OSHA's powered industrial truck bulletin, even when an agency supplies trained operators, the host must verify that training, give site-specific training on its trucks and conditions, and conduct a workplace evaluation of each operator; the bulletin also notes that federal law bars anyone under 18 from operating a forklift. Our forklift operator screening questions help confirm experience before the order is filled.

Who supplies PPE?

TWI Bulletin 2 says both employers must ensure adequate PPE and training, but the host "will usually have the primary responsibility for selecting, providing and ensuring the use of adequate PPE", because it knows and controls the hazards and is best placed to do the hazard assessment. In OSHA's lathe example, a host refuses to provide safety glasses; the agency "has the choice of supplying the PPE itself or withdrawing its workers from the site. If Industrial Staffing does neither, it may also be subject to OSHA citations." A host that does not want to supply PPE can negotiate for the agency to do it, in the contract.

What should an agency ask a client before placing temps?

OSHA and NIOSH's Recommended Practices: Protecting Temporary Workers suggest that, before accepting a new client or project, the agency and host "jointly review all worksites to which the worker might foreseeably be sent, the task assignments and job hazard analyses". A site assessment usually covers:

1. The exact tasks, machines and vehicles temps will use, and whether any task needs a license, certification or medical clearance.
2. The host's job hazard analyses, injury and illness logs, safety complaints and OSHA enforcement history.
3. The PPE each task needs and who will supply, fit, clean and replace it.
4. The site-specific training the host will give, in what language, and how it will confirm completion to the agency.
5. Who supervises day to day, and therefore who keeps the injury records and how each side will tell the other about an injury.
6. How temps report hazards and injuries, and whom to call at the agency.
7. Whether the agency may visit the site to observe, and what happens if the scope of work changes.

The same document recommends writing these into the agency-host contract, including what PPE is needed and who supplies it, which employer keeps the injury records, and a defined scope of tasks so the host does not move temps into work they are not trained for. The agency's recruiters can capture much of this at intake, with the same discipline used for light industrial screening on the candidate side.

What about retaliation and workers' rights?

The 2014 memo stresses that temps have the same rights as other workers, including protection under section 11(c) of the OSH Act when they report injuries or complain about unsafe conditions, to either employer. OSHA's recordkeeping bulletin adds that a worker who has been retaliated against must file a complaint with OSHA within 30 calendar days of the retaliatory decision being made and communicated. Both employers should tell temps how to report and should have no policies that discourage reporting.

If you are building an agency from scratch, fold these steps into onboarding alongside the business setup in how to start a staffing agency.