When you utilize the services of a staffing agency, you buy not only the services of the workers, but the expertise and experience of the agency itself - and nowhere are these more essential than in the area of safety.

There are many expectations you as a customer should have of your staffing agency. Experience, an ability to fill your needs with qualified workers, and responsiveness are just a few. However, no expectation is more important than your staffing agency's awareness of safety and risk management. The importance of this one qualification cannot be overemphasized.

Workers' compensation premiums for American companies have increased 30 percent on average in the last year. Furthermore, serious injuries on the job can result not only in fines from OSHA*, but also in criminal prosecution of managers involved - on the customer side as well as the staffing side. Many companies completely outsource safety measures and let the staffing agency be responsible. Whatever part your company plays, it is essential that a staffing agency be familiar with applicable OSHA rules and regulations regarding the workplace.

Interviewing, Testing and Training
A competent staffing agency should conduct interviewing, testing and/or training before the worker ever arrives at your site. Taking these initial steps can help reduce accidents in the workplace by making sure a worker understands the job assignment and is qualified to perform the required tasks. For example, your agency should perform initial interviewing of candidates to test for skills specific to the customer, such as board soldering. It should quiz candidates on safety orientation relative to specific assignments and offer drug screens or other specialized tests as value-added services. Your staffing agency should also offer to do as much of the specialized testing, such as agility tests, at its site and with its own personnel. Successful candidates can also be shown the customer company's safety and orientation videos at the agency's site.

A full-service staffing agency should also offer training such as forklift certification to its customers at the customer site. OSHA regulations now require that workers be trained on the equipment they will actually use, but the agency can streamline that training for the customer and provide that value-added service.

Customer Safety Issues
Your staffing agency's field office should address specific customer safety issues with safety verification documentation. Ideally, this form can be accessed online as well as in hard copy format. This exercise ensures that the staffing agency (as the employer) and the customer (as the site supervisor) have an understanding of safety regulations as they apply according to OSHA. The form should address three issues:

1. The basic responsibility of the staffing agency and the customer company under OSHA law should be explained and understood. For example, the customer company (site supervisor) is required to provide specific safety training at the workplace and to enforce all safety regulations, such as the use of personal protective equipment.

2. The form might provide a list of many common areas of safety involved in light industrial assignments - activities such as forklift driving, cutting instruments, use of machinery, lifting, etc. The customer should be asked if any of these apply to the assignments. The staffing agency should then follow up with the customer to ensure that safety precautions are followed for applicable tasks. Accidents require follow-up, cooperative investigations to avoid further injuries and to satisfy OSHA requirements.

3. The form should also make inquiry of the customer regarding the need for any personal protective or safety equipment. The staffing agency should review this with the customer to determine whether the customer or the agency should provide safety equipment. A well-rounded agency should have some cost-effective means of procuring safety equipment for workers if that is part of its responsibility.

Additional Services
Above and beyond actual worker assignments, professional risk management personnel should be a part of any qualified staffing agency. The Risk Management Department should offer customized products to customers, such as safety training programs - including, in the case of larger customers, a safety orientation video or safety incentive programs. Safety incentive programs are particularly effective for worker teams that work in shifts at a customer site. In concert with the customer company, they award teams who have no lost-time workers' compensation claims in a time period - such as 30 days. Activities include Safety Bingo games, and rewards may be valued prizes like sports or entertainment tickets, or dinner coupons. The Risk Management Department of the staffing agency should offer some cost sharing options for the customer for programs like these.

*OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Labor) was created in 1971 after the passage of the OSH Act in 1970. It is the country's (and each state's) watchdog for safety and health in the American workplace. For detailed information about OSHA, see www.osha.gov or consult the Risk Management Department of your staffing agency.