Health and safety checks carried out by agency management firm de Poel on its agencies have revealed that important health and safety checks are not being carried out by either agencies or clients.

Matthew Sanders, de Poel’s managing director, told Recruiter that in one case all 30 agencies working for a particular client in the logistics/transport sector failed the audit with not one agency or the employer having done an eye test on temporary drivers before they began work.

Other failings included failure to brief agency staff on what to do in an accident, or their responsibilities behind the wheel, as well as failing to conduct induction training prior to temporary workers starting work with a client.

David Crabb, de Poel’s client services director said the findings “mirrored those” of an investigation by a DBIS (Department for Business Innovation and Skills) into driver agencies in the West Midlands. This found that 18 of 21 agencies inspected had broken the law a total of 80 times.

Offences included failing to confirm drivers’ identities, not checking health and safety risks with hirers and failing to issue terms and conditions.

However, Crabb wouldn’t go as far as saying that de Poel had discovered breaches of health and safety, merely that “we have found inconsistencies that can be tightened up”.

Crabb said the audits, which consist of a 23-question questionnaire, which varied according the health and safety policies of individual clients, were important because de Poel’s customers have a duty of care for the health and safety of the people that work for them.

“If they (agencies) don’t understand their obligations under health and safety and there is an accident, and someone is killed and property damaged that would be reportable under health and safety legislation,” he said.

Sanders said “some of the difficulty” arose because agencies and clients were unclear about their respective responsibilities, with each thinking the other did it.

Sanders said de Poel was currently carrying out the audits retrospectively, however, it had just begun to audit agencies prior to staff beginning work, and this would be rolled out in the next quarter.

“It’s frightening, especially in this culture of litigation,” he added.

Crabb added: “Our remit is not to set or advise on policy — merely to make sure that when using agencies and temporary workers, our customers health and safety process is robust when dealing with the variables of flexible workers.”