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Federal OSHA Multi-Employer Worksite Policy

TYPES OF CONTROLLING EMPLOYERS

Control Established by Contract:
In this case, the employer has a specific contractual right and obligation to control safety: To be a controlling employer, the employer must itself be able to prevent or correct a violation or to require another employer to prevent or correct the violation. One source of this ability is explicit contractual authority. This can take the form of a specific contract right to require another employer to adhere to safety and health requirements and to correct violations the controlling employer discovers.

Control Established by a Combination of Other Contract Rights
The ability of an employer to control safety in this circumstance can result from a combination of contractual rights that, together, give it broad responsibility at the site involving almost all aspects of the job. Its responsibility is broad enough so that its contractual authority necessarily involves safety. The authority to resolve disputes between subcontractors, set schedules and determine construction sequencing are particularly significant because they are likely to affect safety.

Control Without Explicit Contractual Authority
Even where an employer has no explicit contract rights with respect to safety, an employer can still be a controlling employer if, in actual practice, it exercises broad control over subcontractors at the site.

Architects and Engineers
Architects, engineers, designers and other entities are controlling employers only if the breadth of their involvement in a project is sufficient to bring them within the parameters discussed above.

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