Many companies depend on contractors to provide dependable, quality work. Most of the time that faith is well founded, but often it is based on mistaken assumptions. When contractors work at your facility, your company falls under the OSHA Multi-Employer Worksite Policy (CPL-02-00-124). In my experience, this policy is either unknown or misunderstood by many.
In general, this policy requires the host employer (the company that owns or operates the facility or worksite) and the contractor to share responsibility for the safety of the contractor’s employees while working at the facility or worksite. If an incident occurs and a contractor employee is injured, OSHA will determine which employer (host employer or contractor) is the Controlling Employer and ultimately the responsible party. Because the host employer has overall responsibility for the facility or worksite, the host employer is usually determined to be the Controlling Employer. However, there are situations where the host employer may not be the Controlling Employer, such as on a construction site where there is a general contractor. In these cases, there is often a clause in the contract between the host employer and the general contractor giving the general contractor the authorities and responsibilities of the host employer. (more…)