FACTS
- Contract workers are some of the most vulnerable groups in our workforce, and many of their roles require them to put themselves at risk of injury on a daily basis.
- Contract workers have experienced some of the highest number of deaths within the sector, with immigrant workers being particularly vulnerable.
- Corporations seem to continue to place a lower value on the well-being of contract workers to that of their direct employees.
- A lack of effective health and safety training leaving your contract workers both unsure and unsafe, increasing the chances of an accident.
- Unsafe workstations, buildings, warehouses and heavy-duty equipment present greater risk to workers who are unfamiliar with related hazards.
- Lack of ongoing safety communication on site.
STATS
- Contract workers are a vulnerable population. Of the 5,147 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2017, 800 were contracted workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Fatal work injuries incurred by contracted workers increased to 829 in 2015 from 802 in 2014. In the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), a contracted worker is employed by one firm but working for another firm that is responsible for the operations at the site where the worker was killed.
- For the employer industry (the industry in which the worker is directly employed), 497 of the fatally injured contracted workers were employed by a private construction firm in 2015. Another 125 fatally injured workers were employed in administrative and support and waste management and remediation services.
- Construction laborers accounted for the largest number of fatal occupational injuries among contracted workers, with 135 fatalities in 2015. Just under 60 % of all construction laborers who died in 2015 from a work-related injury were contracted workers.
- Contracted workers account for a small part of fatalities in some occupations—for example, 8 percent of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in 2015. Contracted workers constitute a much larger share of fatalities in other occupations.
- According to a report from ISN Analytics, the use of contractors and the outsourcing of work continue to grow. About 42% of organizations plan to increase their outsourcing. Almost half of the surveyed contractor hiring organizations reported that between 40% and 100% of their on-site work is completed by contractors, and 23% of organizations use over 1,000 contractor companies. In 55% of organizations, the EHS department owns the contractor management process.