There have been several attempts to provide certain protection to temporary
agency workers at the EU level by Directive 91/383/EEC in respect of health and
safety and most recently by Directive 2008/104/EC in respect of other working
conditions. However, the precarious employment status of temporary workers
has been a stumbling block in clear understanding of who owes duties and
responsibilities for health and safe of these workers.
By seeking to address this issue, the paper analyses the existing legal provisions
relating to health and safety of temporary agency workers at the EU and UK
levels in the context of a more general problem associated with the employment
status of such workers, and suggests a number of alternatives to the existing legal
regime which could potentially clarify the situation
