Arbetsmiljöansvar vid uthyrning av personal

As the staffing agency business is rapidly growing and suffering from accidents resulting in higher sick leave than in other businesses, it is of great interest to analyze which responsibilities prevail between the customer companies and the staffing agencies, when it comes to working environment for hired staff. The purpose of this essay is to clarify the distribution of responsibilities between customer companies and staffing agencies, regarding working environment. I would also like to analyze which consequences this distribution of responsibilities may lead to. To be able to answer these questions, I have chosen to use the legal dogmatic method together with the sociology of law method. I have studied legal sources, literature and also interviewed three persons who are active within the staffing agency business; one person from the Swedish Work Environment Authority, one person from the employers’ side and one person from the employees’ side. The conclusion of my survey is that the SAM-responsibility is divided equally between staffing agencies and customer companies, since the customer company who hires staff is equated with an employer. The employer must also ensure that there is an organized work adaptation and rehabilitation function within the company. According to Working environment regulation, the employer is obliged to immediately report accidents or other harmful incidents to the Swedish Work Environment Authority. Apart from the SAM-responsibility the customer company must also ensure that the hired staff takes necessary protective actions, to be able to safely perform their work and also to give the hired staff access to common facilities under the same conditions as for the other employees