Construction Law

OSHA’s Multi-Employer Worksite Policy: Knowing the Basics

If you have ever been on worksites with more than one employer, you know they can be chaotic. General contractors, subcontractors, and other employers can all have workers on the premises, which can lead to confusing priorities and hierarchies. In addition, if a federal workplace safety violation occurs, it can be challenging to identify which employer is responsible.

However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a specific policy that outlines the multi-employer worksite citation process.

Definitions and Parameters

How is a multi-employer worksite defined? According to the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), such a site is described as follows:

A worksite at which two or more entities are performing tasks that will contribute to the completion of a common project. The entities may or may not be related contractually. The contractual relationship may or may not be in writing. On multi-employer worksites, both in construction and industry, more than one employer may be citable for the same condition. However, per OSHA’s Multi-Employer Citation Policy, CPL 2-0.124, the agency does not use this or any other specific definition of a multi-employer worksite. Instead, the agency focuses on employer responsibility and liability based on the following parameters:

On multi-employer worksites (in all industry sectors), more than one employer may be citable for a hazardous condition that violates an OSHA standard. A two-step process must be followed in determining whether more than one employer is to be cited.

Step One: The first step is to determine whether the employer is a creating, exposing, correcting, or controlling employer. Once you determine the role of the employer, go to Step Two to determine if a citation is appropriate (NOTE: only exposing employers can be cited for General Duty Clause violations).

Step Two: If the employer falls into one of these categories, it has obligations with respect to OSHA requirements. Step Two is to determine if the employer’s actions were sufficient to meet those obligations. The extent of the actions required of employers varies based on which category applies. Note that the extent of the measures that a controlling employer must take to satisfy its duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent and detect violations is less than what is required of an employer with respect to protecting its own employees.

The following definitions describe the types of employers specified in Step One:

· Creating: This employer caused the hazardous condition that failed an OSHA standard.

· Exposing: This employer has employees who are exposed to the hazard.

· Correcting: This employer is responsible for rectifying the hazardous condition.

· Controlling: This employer has general supervisory responsibility on the worksite, including the authority to correct or require others to correct hazardous conditions.

Note that some employers may fall into multiple categories; for example, one can be defined as both creating and exposing.

How Citations Are Determined

The citation policy can be summarized in the following manner:

· On a multi-employer work site, more than one employer may be subject to citation for a hazardous condition violating an OSHA standard.

· Even if the employer did not create a hazardous condition on a worksite, it can be held responsible and cited for exposing employees to unsafe conditions.

· Even if its own workers are not exposed to a hazardous condition, an employer can be cited for an OSHA violation if the employer is determined to be a creating, correcting, or controlling employer.

When a hazardous condition is noted and many employers are present on a job site, OSHA will use the two-part analysis to determine an employer’s role and responsibility.

Under the multi-employer policy, OSHA may cite employers for different reasons. Consider the following:

· The creating employer can be cited for failing to maintain a safe working environment, even if its employees were not exposed to the hazard.

· The exposing employer can be cited if it knew about the hazard and failed to take steps to protect its workers and correct the issue.

· The correcting employer can be cited if it failed to reasonably discover or prevent a hazardous condition.

· The controlling employer can only be cited if it failed to take reasonable precautions to detect or prevent violations on the site. The standards for a controlling employer are lower than those for an employer expected to protect its own employees.

Depending on the circumstances of the hazard, any of these employers can be held accountable for safety violations discovered during an OSHA inspection.

Final Thoughts

Although multi-employer worksites can be busy and confusing, OSHA expects all employers to take responsibility for preventing, identifying, and correcting safety hazards. This policy outlines what type of employer is accountable for each action, but all employers can be subject to citations.

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.