Occupational safety and health and temporary agency work in multiemployer restaurants

Current occupational safety and health (OSH) literature calls for sociotechnical, system-level approaches that increase understanding of the underlying reasons for insufficient OSH performance in nonstandard employment that is associated with lower labour and social security protection when compared with traditional forms of work.

This study focused on temporary agency work (TAW) which is a central form of nonstandard employment. The objective was to explore OSH issues in temporary agency work (TAW) in small and medium-sized multiemployer restaurants in Finland and discuss the issues from the perspectives of the agency worker, user company and agency.

A directed content analysis method was used to examine the data obtained from semi-structured interviews (n = 20) with agency workers, restaurant managers and experts representing the temporary work agencies, a pension insurer, and a labour union. The balanced work system theory was used as a framework for this qualitative analysis.

A variety of OSH risks and hazards in TAW were identified. In addition, the complexity of OSH management was highlighted in this triangular employment relationship between the agency worker, the user company, and the agency.

This study reveals problems related to OSH in TAW. Restaurants are entities separate from agencies, so establishing and adhering to a common process of OSH management is not simple.