Who is responsible for my safety as an agency worker?

As an agency worker, your agency has a responsibility not to place you in a job for which you are not appropriately qualified. Your agency also has a legal duty to find out about any health and safety risks that may exist at the placement company, and what the placement company is doing to prevent and control those risks. They should check that the hirer has carried out a thorough health and safety risk-assessment, and ensure that you are made aware of the situation, before placing you with the organisation.

The company where you are placed is responsible for making sure that the workplace is a safe working environment for you, and must provide appropriate health and safety training. Employers must carry out a risk assessment of the work activities carried out. This assessment includes identifying any hazards, who is at risk, then taking action to remove them or to reduce them as far as possible. The employer must write down the results of the risk assessment, do follow-up checks from time to time and take further action if necessary.