Responsibility for employee health, safety on multi-employer worksites

Submitted by Ryan Nosan, Director, MNOSHA Workplace Safety Consultation

When more than one employer operates at a single worksite, Minnesota OSHA (MNOSHA) and federal OSHA consider it a multi-employer worksite. Most construction sites are multi-employer worksites, where multiple contractors are assigned work, but not necessarily all at the same time. Employers at multi-employer construction worksites need to know their responsibilities, assigned roles and accountability for employee health and safety.

On multi-employer construction worksites, all of the employers must work together to identify and control hazards to meet MNOSHA standards for employee safety and health. When MNOSHA identifies safety or health violations at a worksite, it evaluates the owner and employer hierarchy to determine responsibility for the violations among the owner and employers.

When evaluating a multi-employer worksite, MNOSHA identifies four categories of employers:

1. Creating employer – the one that creates the violative condition (hazard).
2. Exposing employer – the one that employs the workers exposed to a violative condition, regardless of whether that employer created the condition.
3. Correcting employer – the one that has the specific responsibility to correct violative conditions.
4. Controlling employer – the one that is responsible, by contract or practice, for the safety and health conditions at the worksite and has the authority to correct the violative condition.

A single employer may fit into more than one of the four categories above. For example, an employer may be both a creating and exposing employer or a correcting and a controlling employer. The hierarchy on a multi-employer construction worksite is generally from the owner/employer to general/prime contractors, and then to subcontractors.

Common construction practice is for contractors to hire subcontractors to work on construction sites. If the subcontractor creates a safety and health violation (hazard), it is subject to a MNOSHA citation. The general contractor may also be responsible:  Even if the general contractor did not contribute to the hazard and had no employees in the area, as the top of the employer hierarchy, the general contractor is still responsible for overseeing the overall health and safety at the worksite. MNOSHA citations may be issued when the general contractor had knowledge of the existence of a hazard. Constructive knowledge of a hazard may be proven when the general contractor did not exercise reasonable diligence to prevent and detect violations on the site.

Safety pre-planning should be done before a new project begins and before each new phase of the project. The plan should identify site-specific hazards, safety precautions and the responsible party. A best practice is to write this information into site contracts. The controlling employer must ensure each contractor and subcontractor understands and agrees to follow the safety requirements in the contract. Conducting periodic safety inspections based on the hazard level and conducting daily meetings between site safety managers and subcontractors can help keep everyone informed about changing worksite conditions and potential areas of concern.

The responsibility of the controlling employer does not end with communicating required safety precautions or notifying the other employers about unsafe conditions or behavior. The controlling employer must do everything within its power, up to and including terminating the contract, to maintain a safe workplace and protect all employees on the worksite.

Through cooperation, all the employers involved on a multi-employer worksite can maintain safety and health standards and protect employees.

About MNOSHA Workplace Safety Consultation
Minnesota OSHA Workplace Safety Consultation provides free consultation services upon request to employers to assist them in their safety and health efforts without citations or penalties. Priority is given to small employers, especially those in high-hazard industries. The only employer obligation is a commitment to correct serious hazards in a timely manner. Your company's name and file are confidential and not available to MNOSHA Compliance.

Contact MNOSHA Workplace Safety Consultation at osha.consultation@state.mn.us,
651-284-5060 or 800-657-3776. And get more information online at www.dli.mn.gov/about-department/our-areas-service/minnesota-osha-workplace-safety-consultation.