Seasonal employment picks up during the festive period, with many businesses taking on additional staff to handle holiday demands. Most of these seasonal workers are expected to learn on the job, skipping the typical onboarding process, including health and safety training.
But employers still have a responsibility to protect their employees, whatever the length of their contracts. This guide highlights duties to protect seasonal employees and explains how to ensure the safety of inexperienced staff.
Key Takeaways
- Seasonal employees have the same health and safety rights as permanent staff
- Inexperience makes accidents more likely, so employers must update risk assessments for seasonal employees to ensure their safety.
- Employers are accountable for their workplace’s health and safety, but employees have duties to take reasonable care of themselves.
- Providing specific training, appropriate PPE and adequate supervision ensures seasonal employees can perform their roles safely.
Health and Safety Law on Seasonal Employment
Seasonal employees hired during busier festive periods have the same right to be safe at work as permanent staff.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA), employers must take reasonable steps to protect their employees from work-related harm. This duty of care is reinforced by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which require employers to assess and control workplace risks.
Inexperience is itself a risk. New employees are more likely to be injured, a fact that needs to be accounted for in your risk assessment.
Different Types of Temporary Employment
There are three primary types of temporary employment.
- Temporary employees under direct contract with an employer
- Temporary workers employed by an agency
- Gig workers who have informal employment arrangements
As mentioned, employers have the same duty of care for both temporary and permanent employees.
Temporary workers are slightly different. They’re technically employed by an agency, which contracts them out to other end user businesses. But in these situations, the end user is still largely responsible for the temporary worker’s health and safety since they manage the workplace and assign the work.
(You can read more about the health and safety duties of end user businesses and agencies on the HSE website.)
So, although this guide is written with seasonal employees in mind, much of the advice is relevant for temporary workers, too.
Why Temporary Employees are Vulnerable
Inexperienced workers are more likely to be involved in an accident at work. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), workers are as likely to have an accident in their first six months on the job as they are the rest of their working lives.
There are several reasons why new starters are at greater risk. Inexperience is the most obvious one. Temporary workers won’t recognise hazards straight away, nor will they know the best ways to control them.
They’ll also be eager to impress. New workers, particularly younger ones, might try to prove themselves by taking on more than they can handle or rushing through work without the proper care. They also might keep questions or concerns to themselves in a misguided attempt to appear more competent.
Ensuring Safety During Seasonal Employment
Each workplace is different, but there are actions every employer must take to ensure safety during seasonal employment. We’ve summarised these steps below.
Have an Induction
As mentioned at the start of this guide, inductions for seasonal employees aren’t typically extensive, but you can’t skip the safety essentials. Inform all new workers of:
- Critical workplace hazards
- Emergency procedures
- Fire exits and evacuation routes
- Who to report concerns or incidents to
Inductions aren’t just for the employee. They can also help you assess your new staff’s capabilities. You should already have a sense of their background and experience, but a tour of the workplace is a prime opportunity to build a clearer picture of their skills and abilities.
Update Your Risk Assessment
Employers are required to carry out a workplace risk assessment. This assessment should identify the hazards (things that can cause harm) and evaluate risk levels (how likely harm is to happen and how severe it will be).
Risk levels are always higher for seasonal employees because their inexperience makes them more likely to be hurt. Your workplace risk assessment should reflect this and detail how seasonal employees have been made safe. Specific control measures will vary, but good places to start include:
- Supervision at all times
- Assigning low-risk tasks
- Check in with workers regularly to check understanding and progress
Provide Training
Training should be specific to the work you expect seasonal employees to do. Make them aware of the hazards they’ll face and what they need to do to stay safe.
You can sometimes manage safety training in-house, with more experienced staff leading the sessions. But it can be hard tracking who’s been shown what if you’re following a more ad-hoc programme. Online training is a practical solution for onboarding large numbers of staff. You can assign and track training as needed so you know exactly who’s ready to work safely.
Employees can also access the training content on their smartphone or tablet at their convenience, so you don’t have to schedule group training or multiple sessions.
Provide PPE
Equipment like hi-vis jackets, gloves, goggles and hard hats are critical in certain workplaces. If any personal protective equipment (PPE) is listed on your risk assessment, it needs to be provided to employees.
PPE must always be supplied free of charge and in good condition. It also needs to fit workers to offer any actual protection. If you take on seasonal employees, it’s a good idea to have a stock of differently sized PPE so workers can find equipment that fits on short notice.
Temporary Workers
Employees also have responsibilities under health and safety law. The HSWA requires employees to take reasonable care of themselves and avoid putting others at risk while working.
The word “reasonable” is important here. It’s not reasonable to expect a seasonal employee to take responsibility for their safety without support and supervision. So, employers need to be sure they assign suitable tasks and provide workers with everything they need to be safe. In turn, workers are required to follow any training and use equipment as instructed.
Health and Safety Training
Temporary workers still need health and safety training. We offer an extensive library of off-the-shelf Health and Safety Courses that cover essential safety information all employees must know.
If your organisation takes advantage of seasonal employment, you can use our system to assign and track training with ease, ensuring that even temporary staff are prepared to handle workplace risks.
And the flexibility of online training lets employees learn at their own pace, letting them schedule training outside of busy periods. Discounts are also available when you buy in bulk.
About the author(s)
Jonathan Goby
