Understanding the Multi-Employer Worksite (Part 4) - The Correcting Employer

Miller & Martin PLLC Blog | June 28, 2018

The correcting employer is an employer engaged on a multi-employer worksite responsible for correcting a hazard that violates an OSHA standard. Most often the correcting employer is responsible for the installation and/or maintenance of health and safety equipment and/or devices, but not exclusively.

The key to OSHA citations to a correcting employer on a multi-employer worksite is the exercise of reasonable care in preventing, discovering and correcting hazards.

The controlling contractor needs to have a clear and defined understanding of what hazards it has undertaken to prevent, the steps it is taking to prevent, discover and correct the hazards and the ability to show the reasonableness of its actions in light of the scope of the project, the amount of activity on the project and the timing of activity on the project.

Example: In the example of the elevated work space, the correcting employer could be the company hired to erect fall protection whenever a new elevated workspace is made available for work. The correcting employer should have in place routine inspections of the worksite to determine if newly created elevated areas are available for work by other employers, a work schedule that provides insight when new areas are created to allow appropriate inspections, and training to all employers and their employees regarding the requirement to inform the correcting employer if guardrails are not erected or are somehow damaged prior to working in the area.

Tags: OSHA, Multi-Employer Worksite, Correcting Employer