Labour hire to increase workplace safety?

The recruitment industry was so frustrated with ongoing claims that labour hire employees are more likely to be injured at work that it commissioned research to dispel this myth.

In fact, CEO of the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, Julie Mills told Safety Solutions that the new research indicates that labour hire employees are less likely to be injured on the job.

These results, together with the changing face of employment - an increasing use of on-hire employees - could eventually have a significant impact on the culture of workplace safety.

On-hire employees are safer

The results are a coup for an industry that has been constantly defending the safety of its employees in the wake of critics attempting to increase workers compensation premiums for on-hire workers.

"RCSA's motivation for the project was that the oft-repeated statistics about the poor performance of the industry don't align with the actual experiences of our members. Yet they are used to discredit the industry and push up WorkCover premiums," Mills says.

The 2002 Underhill Report is the origin of the claim that labour hire workers "are more likely to be injured than direct employees and their injuries appear to be more severe".

Principal of the Values Bank, Brent Taylor, who led the new study, said the key measure for safety performance is the incident rate - it is an actuarial formula used by the insurance industry and WorkCover.

"Surprisingly though, the Underhill report did not use this, and without it the claims made by the report are little more than anecdotal," he said.

He suggests that the reason for this omission may have been a lack of necessary data when the report was written in 2001-02.

New data available

"The Underhill report is outdated because crucial information wasn't available at the time. Not long after its publication, however, new data was made available through HILDA, a national study of the workforce carried out by the University of Melbourne.

"Using this, the Values Bank has been able to calculate an incidence figure for the on-hire industry and it found a 27% lower rate of claims," Taylor said.

As far as affecting workplace safety in industrial settings, the new research is particularly relevant. Mills says that blue collar industry is one of the largest users of this flexible workforce.

"In 2003, blue collar industry was the second highest employing sector for temporary and contract workers. Over 880,000 placements were made in trade labour and related occupations, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics."

The labour hire industry on the whole is growing rapidly too, in part due to a growing skills shortage in certain occupations. Since 2000, estimated revenue in the sector has increased from $8.7 billion to $10.6 billion in 2005.

Double the safety

RCSA's Mills has her own theory on why it now seems that labour hire employees are at less risk.

"Because both the on-hire firm and the host employer are responsible for the safety of on-hired workers, they are being looked after from two perspectives. This can include more induction training, on the job training and better monitoring," she said.

"Also, there is a tendency for workers to work fewer hours - permanent workers are often working 60 hours a week and having more fatigue-related accidents."

WorkCover NSW confirms that both labour hire companies and the employer that uses their services have a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of on-hire workers.

"A labour hire employer must provide workers compensation coverage for its workers and ensure their health and safety in the workplace," WorkCover NSW's Wendy McKenzie says.

"The host organisation also has an obligation to ensure the safety of labour hire workers and ensure that labour hire workers on site are not exposed to health and safety risks."

To comply with existing legislation, WorkCover recommends that the employer and host organisation work together to:

• Implement adequate occupational health and safety management systems to effectively manage workplace hazards and risks.
• Provide adequate induction, including site- and task-specific training.
• Ensure the appropriateness of pre-placement assessments for labour hire workers.
• Ensure there is sufficient OHS representation and consultation.
• Ensure continual and effective communication between all parties.

This double responsibility for safety is necessary, as labour hire employees are often unfamiliar with the host organisation's workplace.

For this reason, the labour hire employer and host organisation is responsible for ensuring a specific risk assessment of potential hazards is undertaken and appropriate safety measures are put into place.

For more information on safety obligations, contact the WorkCover/WorkSafe regulator in your state.