Posted By peter mcmahon Folks Could I ask for your opinions and advice on the matter of safety footwear for temporary staff. If a recruitment agency is used to source and pay temporary workers at our site who then has the responsiblity for the PPE issue? If safety boots are required in an area...does the recruitment agency have to give the temp staff boots or do we as the place of work supply the boots?? Although on our site they are not termed our employees. Also some workers may only be on site a week or two. Your expertise, thoughts or experience on this matter may help me persuade the undecided cheque writers to step back from the dark side. Thanks

Posted By Geoff Burt Agree with Paul. However the costs of new boots for 'each' person whether it is for a week or a year would have to be passed on by the agency with usually a commission on top. Depending on the type and length of the job it might be cheaper for you to purchase and issue the boots yourselves. I know of a couple of employers who hold a stock of boots which are disinfected when returned and then reissued. Not an attractive practice but it seems to work. Stock loss is low as the cost is taken from the last pay packet if they are not returned. Geoff

Posted By Stuart Nagle Peter. This is a very complicated area in respect of employment rights and law. In the past it was not uncommon to see adverts in papers asking for persons who must provide their own PPE!! In some instances, due to the nature and type of contract, some temporary workers were at law self-employed and their agency merely handling 'administration'... In other areas the employing company was the employer and not the agency, who merely acted as a 'recruiter'. There needs to be clear definition of who is the employer and holds responsibility for legal compliance. I would suggest that you contact the agency formally and request details of their position as either the employer of these temps or a their statement as a recruiter... AS the company actually employing these persons on site, the above respondents are correct in stating that you have a legal duty of care to ensure their safety by, where necesary, seeing that the correct PPE is employed. Whether you have a duty to supply it remains to be defined and this must be established with the agency (in writing I would suggest) and a formal description provided to the agency if they are the employer of what PPE and training is required for attendance on-site of temporary employees.

Posted By Eric Burt As to the question "Who is the employer" I can offer the following. In 1996, Wrexham County Borough Council was prosecuted by the HSE for injuries caused to a Refuse Operative who was employed through an agency. (He was riding on the back of a bin wagon and was thrown into the back by the automatic bin-lift). He was working for the Council over the summer holidays (he was a university student)and had been with the Council only a matter of a few weeks prior to the accident. The Council were prosecuted under HASAWA Section 2 for an unsafe system of work (riding on the back of a bin wagon) as the IP was deemed to be an "employee" of the Council as there was the master-servant relationship. I agree with previous comments though - the law does need to be more specific in this area, but for the time being I would assume that the employing organisation is deemed to be the "Employer" for H&S purposes only, in much the same way as they would be for a trainee on a government training scheme (H&S ( Training for Employment) Regs 1990. See you at IOSH conference. Eric