Safety on assignment: your rights and responsibilities

Applies to: US employees Ascen places on assignment. Independent contractors are not employees and are not covered by Ascen's workers' compensation, so the coverage and reporting steps here don't apply to them — see Reporting a workplace injury or safety incident instead.

Summary: Ascen is your employer, the client runs the site you work at, and safety is shared between us. This is what we expect from you on assignment, what you can expect from us and the site, the work you should stop and call us about, and who to contact when something goes wrong.

Your safety on assignment

Ascen is your employer. You work at someone else's site — the client — but we employ you, we pay you, and we carry your workers' compensation insurance. That means two things: the client is in charge of the day-to-day work and the hazards at their site, and we are the ones you call when something goes wrong.

Please read this before your first shift and keep it. If anything here is unclear, email support@ascen.com and ask.

1. If you get hurt at work

If it is serious, call 911 first. Never wait for permission, paperwork or a phone call before getting emergency help.

Otherwise, three steps, in this order:

1. Tell your supervisor at the site — right away, on the same shift.

2. Call the CareLine on 1-888-485-2687. It is open 24 hours a day, every day, in English and Spanish. A nurse will ask about your injury and tell you what kind of care you need — sometimes that is simple home care like icing it, sometimes it is a clinic visit. Calling also starts your claim, so you do not have to file anything yourself.

3. Fill in the incident forms we send you, and any your site asks for.

Then tell us at support@ascen.com so we can follow up on your care and your pay. The step-by-step version is in What to do if you're injured at work.

If you are not getting better, call the CareLine again. Explain the new symptoms, or that the old ones have not improved, and they will tell you the next step. You are not limited to one call.

Report it even if it seems small

Report every injury, illness and near-miss, however minor it looks at the time — a small cut, a twinge in your back, a near-fall. Two reasons, and the second one matters to you directly:

• Small injuries that get looked at early usually stay small.

• If you do not report an injury immediately, your workers' compensation benefits can be delayed or denied. This is in the handbook you signed, and it is a real risk, not a formality.

You will not be punished for reporting

Reporting an injury, a hazard or a near-miss is always the right call. It is illegal for anyone to punish you for it — us, the staffing agency that placed you, or the client. If you think something has happened to you because you reported a safety problem, tell us at support@ascen.com. Your rights are explained at Workers' Rights (OSHA).

2. The safety rules you agree to follow

Safety at Ascen is a joint effort, and you are part of it. You agree to:

• Follow both sets of rules — ours and the client's — while you are on assignment.

• Observe all posted safety rules and follow the safety instructions your supervisor gives you.

• Use the safety equipment that is required for your job, every time.

• Keep your work area neat, clean and orderly.

• Report unsafe equipment or conditions — a broken guard, a blocked exit, a spill, a process that feels wrong — to a supervisor promptly, and tell us too.

• Tell your manager immediately if you become ill or are injured at work.

Not following these rules can lead to discipline, up to and including the end of your assignment or your employment.

3. Work you should stop and call us about

Some work is not yours to do, no matter who asks. Stop and contact Ascen if you are asked to:

• Do a job that is different from the assignment you were placed on.

• Do something you have not been trained for, where doing it would be unsafe.

• Work at heights — extension ladders, A-frame ladders, articulating booms, scissor lifts, forklift baskets, or any equipment made to reach above floor level.

• Work in a confined space — a pit, vault, tank, boiler or anything similar.

For those last three, here is exactly what to do: tell the supervisor on site that your staffing agency does not permit it, and let us know after your shift ends. You are not expected to argue about it on the floor, and you are not expected to do the task. This is our rule, not your reluctance, and the site cannot waive it — we tell clients and staffing partners the same thing in writing, so nobody should be surprised.

4. Protective equipment

The client site is responsible for providing the protective equipment your job needs — eye and face protection, hard hats, hearing protection, respirators, safety footwear, gloves, back support — and for training you on it. You are responsible for wearing it.

You will be asked to sign a short sheet recording what equipment you were issued and what training came with it. If you are given equipment without training, or the equipment does not fit or is damaged, say so before you start the task, and tell us.

Where machinery is involved, expect rules on loose clothing, jewellery and tying back or netting long hair. Follow them.

5. Training you have to complete

• Ascen assigns your general safety training in our platform. You will see it in your onboarding steps, and some assignments cannot start until it is done.

• A course may have a deadline, and some require a passing score rather than just finishing.

• Some training repeats — annual refreshers come back around and will show up again when they are due.

• Extra courses may be added for the work you are doing — forklift awareness, bloodborne pathogens, electrical safety and others.

• Site-specific training comes from the client, and it should happen before you do the task, in a language you understand. If you are put on a task without that training, stop and call us — see section 3.

• You are paid for training the law requires. Where a state mandates a training, that time is paid.

6. Drug- and alcohol-free workplace

Following our substance abuse policy is a condition of your employment. In short:

• Illegal drugs are prohibited — using, having, selling, sharing or transferring them, at any time, in any amount.

• No alcohol while you are working or on the client's or our premises, and do not come to work with alcohol in your system. Legal off-duty drinking is your own business, as long as it does not affect your work.

• Marijuana is prohibited, except where state law limits our ability to enforce that.

• Prescription and over-the-counter medication is fine — but check whether it affects your ability to work safely, and tell us about any work restrictions it creates. You do not have to tell us the name of the medication.

• Asking for help is not held against you. If you come to us voluntarily — before you are asked to take a test and before any violation is discovered — that decision will not be used as a basis for discipline. You may be moved, given restrictions or placed on leave while you get help, and you will need a release from a treatment provider and a negative return-to-work test before coming back.

7. Screening before you start

• A background check is required for every assignment. If you have had a qualifying check recently through us, it usually carries over instead of being run again.

• A drug test is not always required — it depends on the client and the role. Where it is required, you will be told before you accept the assignment, and a failed test means we cannot place you.

• Some roles also need health checks or credentials. Your assignment will say.

8. If your assignment involves driving

Only some assignments include driving, and only as a small part of the job. If yours does:

• Never text while driving. Sending or reading messages while operating any vehicle is prohibited outright.

• Drive alone. Do not carry other employees, guests or event attendees, and do not carpool. The vehicle is for you and your equipment.

• You will need a clean driving record and a negative drug screen before we can place you.

• Report any accident involving a vehicle on assignment to us immediately, the same as any other injury or incident.

9. Violence and harassment

Ascen has zero tolerance for threats or acts of violence, intimidation, bullying, and physical or mental abuse. That applies to everyone you deal with at work — including client staff, supervisors and customers, not just other Ascen employees. Carrying weapons at work is prohibited.

The same goes for discrimination and harassment. Bring it to us at support@ascen.com — we investigate it. You do not have to raise it with the client first, and you should not be asked to sort it out on site.

10. Your workers' compensation coverage

We provide workers' compensation insurance for you, at no cost to you. It pays your medical costs for a work-related injury or illness and part of your wages while you cannot work, on the terms your state sets. What you get and for how long depends on the injury and on state law — see How workers' compensation works for you.

Getting back to work. Most people can do something useful while they recover, and coming back sooner is better for you. We will get your work status from the clinic — what you can and cannot do — and arrange modified duty where the site can support it. We share your restrictions with the site; we do not share your diagnosis. If you are asked to work outside your restrictions, stop and call us.

11. Who to contact

What you're agreeing to

You may be asked to acknowledge these points as part of your onboarding paperwork. In plain terms, you are confirming that:

• You have read and understood this document.

• You will follow Ascen's safety rules and the safety rules of the site you are assigned to.

• You will report any work-related injury, illness or near-miss immediately, and you understand that not reporting one right away can delay or jeopardise your workers' compensation benefits.

• You will stop and contact Ascen if you are asked to do work outside your assignment, work you have not been trained for, work at heights, or work in a confined space.

• You will use the protective equipment your job requires.

• You understand that Ascen is a drug- and alcohol-free workplace and that complying with that policy is a condition of your employment.

• You know you can report a safety concern without being punished for it.

This article summarises Ascen policy for you in plain language. It does not replace your Employee Handbook, the state supplement that applies to where you work, or your rights under federal, state or local law. Where a state or local rule gives you more protection, that rule applies.

Related articles: What to do if you're injured at work • Reporting a workplace injury or safety incident • How workers' compensation works for you