Today’s workplaces look far different than they have in the past, taking on many shapes, sizes and settings ranging from small, family-owned businesses to companies with thousands of workers on sites spread across the country. As a result, more workers from multiple employers are working side-by-side at the same locations, increasing the shared responsibility for worker safety among employers.
Onsite chemicals create more confusion over who has obligations under OSHA’s Hazard Communication (Hazcom) Standard. Complicating the situation even more is the lack of guidance surrounding this subject. Many resources available only discuss simple employer-employee relationships as if the modern-day realities of multi-employer worksites don’t exist.