The dynamics of occupational health and safety vulnerability for temporary agency workers

Introduction
Occupational health and safety legislation is changing internationally to keep up with the changing nature of work. Temporary work agencies, with the three-way employment relationship, pose a particular regulative challenge. The high occupational injury risk faced by temporary agency workers is well documented, but the mechanisms of this risk are unclear. This study examined how temporary work agencies manage practical aspects of injury prevention and return to work after a workplace accident.

Methods
A qualitative interview and legal analysis study was conducted in Ontario, Canada in 2010-2012. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 56 participants involved with the labour hire of low wage workers. These included temporary workers, temporary work agencies, client employers who hire labor through agencies, and key informants. Related policy, legal and case law were also analysed.

Results
All parties used a vocabulary of social disconnect which cast the workers as products. Within this context, occupational health and safety competed with business interests. Client employers hired workers for the relatively dangerous ‘dirty work’, workers in financial need did not complain about work conditions, and agencies balanced safety with fiscal objectives. Meanwhile, health and safety prevention incentives were elusive for both employer parties. Client employers could keep their own experience-rated accident record clean by hiring agency workers for risky work, and agencies could go bankrupt and re-open when occupational health fines threatened their business.

Discussion
Temporary agency workers are in a particularly vulnerable position with respect to occupational health and safety. Social and legal dynamics in the three-way employment relationship mean that temporary agency workers effectively receive less protection than workers in more standard employment situations. Enhancing the legal and fiscal accountability of both agencies and client employers who hire labour through then might afford better protection to low wage temporary agency workers.