Data on temporary employment, worker tenure, injury patterns, lost work time, and industrial safety outcomes highlights where organizations can strengthen protection for dynamic workforces.
Seasonal and temporary workers can face additional safety challenges when entering unfamiliar facilities, learning new tasks, or joining operations during periods of increased demand. The categories are not identical, but both can include workers with limited site-specific experience who need effective onboarding, supervision, and consistent workplace protections.
Research also suggests that employment status alone does not explain injury risk. One occupational study found higher unadjusted injury rates among temporary workers, but those differences largely disappeared after accounting for factors such as occupation, age, gender, and job tenure. For industrial organizations with changing workforce levels, industrial intelligence can complement established safety programs with continuous visibility into supported workplace risks.
Research on temporary employment suggests that job tenure and workplace familiarity can play an important role in injury risk. A peer-reviewed study of Spanish occupational injury data found substantial differences before researchers accounted for worker and job characteristics.
Temporary workers had an unadjusted 2.94 rate ratio for nonfatal traumatic occupational injuries compared with permanent workers. The initial difference was substantial, but factors such as age, occupation, gender, and tenure also influenced the comparison, showing why employment status alone does not fully explain injury risk.
The same study found a 2.54 rate ratio for fatal occupational injuries among temporary workers before adjustment. The finding highlights the importance of considering task assignments, equipment exposure, supervision, training, and familiarity with workplace hazards alongside employment status.
After accounting for gender, age, occupation, and particularly length of employment, the nonfatal injury rate ratio fell to 1.05 and was no longer statistically significant. The result suggests that shorter tenure and limited familiarity with workplace hazards may explain much of the initial difference between temporary and permanent workers.
After accounting for the same factors, the fatal injury rate ratio fell to 1.07 and was no longer statistically significant. This reinforces the importance of site-specific training, appropriate task assignments, supervision, hazard communication, and continued coaching as workers become familiar with a workplace.
Sentry’s analysis of 22,637 retail and wholesale injury claims provides additional context on how injuries are distributed across employee tenure and age groups.
Workers in their first year accounted for about 38% of injuries in Sentry’s analysis. New employees may still be learning facility layouts, equipment procedures, traffic patterns, and task-specific hazards, making continued coaching after orientation particularly important.
Employees with one to five years at their company accounted for about 28% of injuries. The figure shows that injury prevention should continue beyond onboarding through refresher training and coaching as workers change tasks, equipment, or operating areas.
Employees under age 30 represented about 32% of injuries in Sentry’s dataset. Age alone does not determine workplace risk, making experience, job demands, training, equipment exposure, and workplace conditions more useful considerations.
Employees ages 51 to 65 accounted for about 26% of injuries. Together with the under-30 figure, this supports designing safety programs around actual task demands and hazards rather than demographic assumptions.
Among claims that resulted in missed work, employees were away for an average of 70 workdays. Extended absences can affect employee recovery while adding staffing pressure during periods of elevated seasonal demand.
Strains represented about 27% of injuries in Sentry’s claims analysis. Lifting, carrying, bending, reaching, pushing, and pulling can make ergonomic risk particularly relevant when seasonal demand changes workloads or worker assignments.
Strain associated with lifting represented about 11% of injuries, making it the leading individual cause in the analysis. Voxel’s ergonomic monitoring can add visibility into supported patterns such as improper bending, unsafe lifting, overreaching, and high-strain postures.
Finger injuries accounted for about 11% of affected areas, tied with injuries involving multiple body parts. Guarding, task-specific procedures, appropriate PPE, and training remain important when workers handle unfamiliar tools, materials, or equipment.
The lower back accounted for about 10% of affected areas. Back risk can be influenced by posture, repetition, lifting technique, load characteristics, and job design, while improper bending monitoring can help identify recurring patterns.
Sentry found that over 60% of injuries involved workers under 30 or over 50. The finding further illustrates that injury exposure spans age groups and supports focusing safety programs on task demands, workplace hazards, and individual experience.
Current BLS figures provide broader context for workplaces employing permanent, seasonal, and temporary workers.
BLS reported 2,488,400 cases of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry in 2024, or nearly 2.49 million. The figure shows the continuing scale of occupational safety challenges across U.S. workplaces as staffing levels and operating demands change.
Private industry recorded 888,100 cases involving days away from work in 2024, or more than 888,000 cases. Injury-related absences can create added staffing and scheduling pressure during periods of elevated operational demand.
The median absence for private-industry cases involving days away from work was eight days in 2024. For an employee on a short seasonal assignment, that recovery period can represent a meaningful portion of the employment period.
BLS reported 568,150 cases involving sprains, strains, and tears with days away from work in 2024. The scale reinforces the importance of ergonomic controls, suitable equipment, job design, training, and attention to repetitive or high-strain activities.
BLS reported 479,480 cases involving falls, slips, and trips with days away from work in 2024. Housekeeping, clear walking surfaces, spill response, appropriate footwear, and orientation to site conditions remain important across permanent and temporary workforces.
BLS reported 248,180 cases involving exterior and musculoskeletal structures of the back with days away from work in 2024. The figure highlights the continuing importance of ergonomic design, material-handling practices, workload management, and appropriate lifting procedures.
BLS recorded 5,070 fatal injuries across the United States in 2024, down from 5,283 in 2023. Although the figure covers all workers rather than seasonal or temporary employees specifically, it reinforces the importance of consistent workplace protections.
The national fatal injury rate was 3.3 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2024, compared with 3.5 in 2023. Risk varies substantially by occupation and industry, making site-specific hazards and controls especially important.
BLS recorded 1,146 roadway fatalities involving motorized land vehicles in 2024. Vehicle-related risk is particularly relevant to logistics and transportation operations where seasonal periods can increase both workforce levels and traffic activity.
Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 844 fatal injuries in 2024. These incidents reinforce the importance of safe walking-working surfaces, housekeeping, appropriate fall protection, clear access routes, and site-specific orientation.
At its featured cold-storage facility, Americold achieved a 70% reduction in injuries, a 100% reduction in lost-time days, and $1.1 million in EBITDA savings. The operation used greater visibility into workplace risks to support proactive coaching and improvements alongside its broader safety program.
At its Orange, California distribution facility, MSI achieved a 50% reduction in lost-time injuries and a 73% reduction in workers’ compensation costs within six months. The results supported expansion to four additional facilities.
Piston Automotive reduced vehicle safety incidents by 86% within three months. No-stop-at-end-of-aisle incidents also fell 92%, from five per day to 0.4 per day, demonstrating how continuous visibility can support targeted improvements around powered industrial trucks.
Carlex Glass increased safety vest compliance by 86% in less than three months at its Vonore, Tennessee facility. The company also reduced no-stop incidents at aisle ends by 47% and at doors by 37% while collaborating with UAW leadership on a non-punitive approach centered on information gathering and training.
These results highlight measurable outcomes Voxel customers have achieved across different industrial environments, with performance reflecting each facility’s baseline conditions, safety priorities, and implementation approach.
Seasonal and temporary workers should receive the same fundamental workplace protections as other employees. OSHA and NIOSH recommend that staffing agencies and host employers coordinate responsibilities for temporary-worker safety, including training and communication about workplace-specific hazards.
Organizations managing dynamic workforces can focus on several practical priorities:
Voxel’s risk management platform works with 95% of existing IP cameras and can deploy to a site in 48 hours using existing camera infrastructure. Relevant capabilities include ergonomic monitoring, PPE monitoring, vehicle safety, area controls, and Actions workflows that connect insights with owners, deadlines, follow-up, and coaching.
Voxel does not use facial recognition and provides face and body blurring, role-based access controls, SSO, and other enterprise safeguards. Carlex’s implementation demonstrates how these capabilities can support a collaborative, non-punitive approach in a union-represented workplace.
No. Seasonal workers are generally hired around recurring periods of increased demand, while temporary workers may be supplied to a host employer through a staffing agency. The categories can overlap, but employment arrangements differ, so organizations should clarify responsibilities while ensuring every worker receives appropriate site-specific training, hazard information, supervision, and protections.
Workers new to a facility may have less familiarity with equipment, traffic patterns, procedures, hazards, and site expectations. Sentry found that about 38% of injuries in its retail and wholesale claims analysis occurred during an employee’s first year, supporting continued attention to onboarding, supervision, and coaching.
Staffing agencies and host employers share responsibility for protecting temporary workers. OSHA and NIOSH emphasize coordination between both employers, with staffing agencies generally positioned to provide broader safety training and host employers responsible for communicating workplace-specific hazards and procedures.
Voxel analyzes compatible camera feeds for supported conditions involving ergonomics, PPE, vehicles, pedestrians, equipment, and workplace areas. These insights can help safety teams identify recurring patterns, prioritize coaching and workplace improvements, assign corrective actions, and evaluate whether observable risks are decreasing as workforce composition changes.
Voxel customer stories document a 70% reduction in injuries at Americold’s featured facility, a 50% reduction in lost-time injuries at MSI’s Orange facility, an 86% reduction in vehicle safety incidents at Piston Automotive, and an 86% increase in safety vest compliance at Carlex. These outcomes reflect individual customer environments, baseline conditions, safety programs, and implementation choices rather than universal expected results.
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