The primary employer should coordinate with the secondary employer to fulfill the PPE requirement. In practice, this means that the host employer must allow a representative from the temporary employment agency access to the site to allow for work site inspections. The host employer should provide to the temporary agency copies of its IIPP in California (or its health and safety programs outside of California). The host employer must provide the same applicable health and safety training as that provided to its regular employees.  It is a best practice for temporary employees to be included in the host employer’s new-hire orientation and area-specific training programs. They must understand the risks and hazards of the work they will be conducting they are allowed to begin work. Supervisors must ensure that temporary employees know the locations of emergency exits and safety data sheets, and how to safely conduct their tasks. Often, the Job Safety Analysis (or work instructions that incorporate the elements of the JSAs) need to be reviewed by the temporary employee. It is always best to have a record of this training signed by the temporary employee and area supervisor. Temporary employees must be provided with the appropriate level of PPE and the same rights as permanent employees to refuse unsafe work. There are very few exceptions to the requirements of the host employer. The issue is who provides direction and control to the temporary employees. If an employer’s contract includes the requirement for on-site supervision by a representative of the temporary agency, then some of the host employer’s obligations for the health and safety of the temporary work force may be transferred to the agency. However, as stated in Cal-OSHA’s Policy and Procedures Manual, a “dual-employer” situation is one where an employee has two employers at the same time, and both employers are potentially liable for a violative condition to which an employee has been exposed. In California, the extent of the primary employer’s responsibility for ensuring the work site is safe for its employees depends on a number of factors, including whether the primary employer had authority to enter the secondary employer’s work site to supervise its employees’ work; the amount of influence the primary employer exerted over conditions at the work site; and whether the violation arose because the secondary employer relied on the primary employer for advice or consultation about workplace safety and health. As an example, a 2014 decision by the California Occupational Safety & Health Appeals Board held that a primary employer was liable for a serious accident-related violation because the employer had not prohibited its employees from working on an unguarded machine. The primary employer’s on-site supervisor knew about the hazard, but he lacked authority from the primary employer to intervene with the secondary employer to resolve safety issues. The Appeals Board held that the primary and the secondary employer are each independently required to protect the safety of the employees, regardless of any contract between the two employers. In other words, an employer cannot defend itself against an occupational safety and health citation by arguing it contracted away or delegated to some other employer its own occupational safety obligations. As the Appeals Board explained, “Each employer in the state of California owes a duty to its employees to furnish a safe and healthful place of employment.” The Appeals Board and the courts have also recognized limits to what can reasonably be expected of a primary employer when a secondary employer supervises the employees but excludes the primary employer from the work site. Even in those cases, however, a primary employer must still take all reasonable steps necessary to protect the health and safety of its employees. The central issue to keep in mind when evaluating situations that may not exactly fit the Appeals Board model is the reasonableness of the steps the primary employer took to ensure the safety of its employees at the secondary site. The reasonableness of the primary employer’s efforts depends on the severity of the hazards and the extent to which the primary employer has influence over conditions at the secondary work site. The Appeals Board decisions do not address many of the complexities that compliance personnel are currently encountering and will continue to encounter in this area, such as the applicability of these rules when the primary employer has been excluded from the secondary work site for a legitimate reason. OSHA recordkeeping is often not understood by the members of site operations teams, who may not know that the host employer is required to enter all recordable injuries/illnesses into the OSHA log. In addition, any serious injuries to temporary employees must be reported to Cal-OSHA within eight hours. Representatives of the temporary agency are often unaware of this requirement. Failure to report serious injuries or illnesses can result in Cal-OSHA issuing fines to both the temporary agency and the host employer. Host employers can be provided with some protections by clearly defining in writing roles and responsibilities and entering into well-written contracts. The host employer’s site contracts administrator or legal and risk management personnel should review and provide guidance for all contracts with temporary agencies prior to final acceptance and signatures.   Send feedback to .