If you’re working at a multi-employer site, it’s unsafe to look out for just your own employees — and it could be costly, too. More than one employer can be cited at a time if OSHA feels that two or more deserve the citation at a single site. In order to determine who is responsible for a safety violation, the agency will look beyond just the contracted employer during OSHA inspections to determine who is officially responsible for controlling what occurred during that incident.
Specifically, OSHA will look into which employer at the site was directly involved with the creation of the unsafe conditions in question. This does not necessarily mean only one employer; if several employers collectively provided an unsafe working environment then all of them can be cited at once. Even if the employees that were put at risk by these unsafe conditions were all employed by a different contractor, the employers that created those conditions are the ones who are directly responsible. As a result, you have to be mindful of all employees working at the multi-employer site.
The best way to make sure that you will not get cited at a multi-employer site is to enforce a comprehensive safety program that benefits all workers on that site. By protecting all workers, you will be helping yourself and your company. Conducting self-audits and making sure that all workers are trained well will be beneficial for maintaining operations on a day-to-day basis as well as preventing any regulatory interference or fines that would result from unsafe working conditions.
