Should agency hands be supplied free PPE at the worksite?

[Ray Shields]

I think you will find that the contract between the Agency and the Company states that the workers shall come with appropriate standard PPE.

So does that mean the Agency worker is in breach of contract?

I still think you are daft if you expect all companies to supply a boiler suit, a hard hat and boots to EVERY agency worker they take EVERY time. You could also argue that if you work for one company and they DO supply you with it, the PPE Regulations also say that you are responsible to maintain it. That means next time you work for them, you should already have the PPE they supplied to you.

We are back to the plumber coming to work on yoru boiler, do you have to supply him his PPE? Course not.

They want you to wear their colour boiler suit or badge – different case, then they should supply.

[Andy Shiers]

Atleast the safety glasses are improving in style these days (and nights )
RayBan supercool that you actually enjoy wearing…………………..
Then some dickhead steals a load out of the box for home usage 👿

[Scott Beveridge]

🙄

I all fairness to both the contractor and ROVer, the guys should bring their own workboots and overalls. Safety glasses and hard hats on site. Once again, as Ray stated, if the company want you to wear their colors they’re to supply them.

[Savante]

Got bored – phoned up the HSE and had a chat – I don’t think it’s ever been tested in court because most groups co-operate with each other and are sensible.

Apparently, the user business and the agency need to clarify and agree at the start of a contract the practical arrangements for day-to-day supervision, direction and control of the work agency workers will be doing. Legal responsibility for HSE cannot be signed away ever. An interesting case in point is the PPE you wear when boarding a helicopter to get to a rig. None of us have ever been asked to bring our own survival suits!

When a business uses agency workers, the business and the agency have a shared duty to protect their health and safety. Ultimately the contract (yay – Ray is right here!) states who the employer is. Your employer and the site operator has responsibility for ensuring PPE is worn. Your employer is responsible for free-issue PPE. In most circumstances however, the business and agency will have an agreement to the provision of PPE – sometimes back charged, or a gentlemans agreement as the business is typically best-placed to issue equipment). However, the business ultimately has a DUTY OF CARE to the agency worker.

Some health and safety responsibilities depend on whether you are the employer. This is determined by the circumstances of each individual contract (agency workers could be considered employees of a business for health and safety purposes even if they are not for tax and National Insurance). So agency workers might be employees of the agency, or employees of the business using them (in both cases, under a contract of employment), or (in some limited cases) self-employed/freelance. If you are the employer, you cannot transfer your health and safety responsibilities to another person or business.

I think the last bit here means that for people operating through limited liability companies (as that limited liability company may actually be your employer, rather than the agency!?!) that you are liable for the cost of PPE. Here’s a worse point for us day-raters running through limited liability companies. If you trash your PPE offshore and get it replaced offshore by the site-operator – does this mean that your little company is liable for the cost of replacement (or temporary hire of?!?) PPE?

As far as I’m concerned, I bring my own PPE because i know if fits and works! Freebies are welcome though 😈 !

This actually raises a more important question for me though and I’m not sure if people actually look at this deeply enough.

JamesMc – new title for a forum.

"Better to be staff, supplied by agency directly as an employee of that agency or agency as a limited liability company/freelancer?"

[Andy Shiers]

If its the Uk , the client has to provide liability insurance for all personnel under their pay and have a cert at every location where the work is carried out whether you are mercenary or salary makes no difference.
BUT !
Be warned………………………
The Netherlands does NOT have this stipulation so you would either have to have your own or come under the Agency’s liability if through one.
Discuss it first to find out if working abroad and make shur it does not eat into your day rate. 🙂

[Andy Shiers]

Oops 😳 That’s shur as in sure
Sorry very bad EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeenglish , That’s the foreigner in me 😀

[Savante]

Ooo er, you’ve got a foreigner in you?!? (There you go missi!)

[Andy Shiers]

Yup 🙂

[misiuek]

oops forgot to quote… anyway savante….

that wasnt the original reply! coward! …..

[Savante]

sorry missi, ill put my original carry-on film response to lostboy back up.

[Ray Shields]

Certainly business have a duty of care.

I hire in an Agency worker, he arrives with no PPE. My duty of care is to tell him to leave again and come back when he has PPE, he cannot work here 😆 😆

Oh, and phone his Agency and tell them to send someone who owns a pair of boots!

An then of course, you work in Egypt…. (there is no translation for HSE)

[Andy Shiers]

Is that just after he arrives by chopper Ray 🙂

[Savante]

yeh, the user business does retain right to refuse access to site based on agency guy not having correct PPE. (Actually it’s an obligation to prevent access in that instance!).

I’ve humped my scrubs from one vessel to rig n back, looking like a complete moron with two oversized bags, laptop briefcase when everyone else seems to walk on with only handbag-sized personal effects…my 6’3" profile and 8-week unkempt afro-like hair isn’t exactly streamlined in the first instance! But you try finding scrubs that big on a platform- plenty of ones with 58 inch waists, but not much in the way that doesn’t cut off the circulaton to the family jewels when you lean into the wind. 😯 Taking ones own kit is the only way and frankly I’d be embarassed to turn up to site without me sheet.

Ultimately, the work needs to get done and it doesn’t benefit any stakeholder. Pilots are difficult to come by at last minutes notice and agencies stop calling so much if they get regular angry superintendents phoning up and complaining.

Velcro company logos. And when they’re not being used on the job, they make excellent placemats at the dinner or knee pads for working on the car 😈 😈 Also you can frisbee them at each others backs for entertainment on the deck and see if they stick!

[Andy Shiers]

Don’t like the helmets either 👿
Base ball cap better or wolley hat 😀
If an overhead scaffolding pole is goner land on ya head or a 22mm bolt from a platform , a plastic helmet ain’t goner save you 😕
Besides the’re f@#!ing bulky and don’t fit in the bag properly plus some asshole nicks the inner linning when you’ve gone for chop or knock off shift !Which brings me to the next morning Grouch …………….. 👿
I have lost count of the amount of Selfish W@~#ers on ships and platforms alike that don’t shift their clobber out of the lockers so that when we come on board there is no room 👿 What absolute tosspots !
Anyway…………………….Good morning world 😀

[Murray Blom]

Lostboy, if you got out of bed a bit earlier you would have got a locker… I did!!! 😆

Savante / Rayshields, while the oil companies might like the scum 😛 (any one not wearing the BP / Shell / Total etc overalls) to bring their own gear if they come up with stupid rules like 11.5kg max on the chopper the first thing that gets thrown out of my bag is me safety gear.

I just travelled 1/2 way round the world, still got to travel home, need some entertainment i.e. books / computer etc (no TV because the company IT twat can’t work out how to switch it on) , f..ked if I am going to junk my personnel kit, PPE is the first to go.

In some places the idiots also try to take your phone, in their dreams. No phone no chopper…. Try it next time, you will be surprised at the result 😀

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