Protecting Temporary Agency Workers in Warehousing from Heat and Safety Hazards

California has the largest network of “logistics” facilities in the nation, connecting the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with millions of square feet of warehouses in the state's San Gabriel and Central valleys. Containers arriving from Asia are unloaded in the port, sent by truck to the warehouses, unloaded, unpacked or redirected at the warehouses for distribution throughout the United States. The workforce is overwhelmingly drawn from temporary help agencies that assign workers to the warehouses on a daily basis. Applying workplace safety regulations to this often confusing “employer-employee” relationship can be difficult, although Cal/OSHA has had a set of policies since the mid-1990s. This presentation will describe Cal/OSHA's “dual employer” and “multi-employer” policies and how they have been applied to the state's growing logistics industry. The presentation will also identify the health and safety hazards involved in warehouse work, including heat illness, exposure to hazardous chemicals, and equipment hazards.