A new estimate of the impact of OSHA inspections on manufacturing injury rates, 1998-2005

Background A prior study indicated that the effect of OSHA inspections on lost workday injuries had declined from 1979 through 1998. This study provides an updated estimate for 1998–2005. Methods Injury data from the Pennsylvania workers' compensation program were linked with employment data fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of industrial medicine 2012-11, Vol.55 (11), p.964-975
Main Authors: Haviland, Amelia M., Burns, Rachel M., Gray, Wayne B., Ruder, Teague, Mendeloff, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
enforcement
evaluation
Health Surveys
Humans
Industry - statistics & numerical data
inspections
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Occupational Health - statistics & numerical data
Occupational medicine
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Pennsylvania - epidemiology
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Regression Analysis
regulation
Unemployment - statistics & numerical data
United States - epidemiology
United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Workers' Compensation - statistics & numerical data
Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology
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Summary:Background A prior study indicated that the effect of OSHA inspections on lost workday injuries had declined from 1979 through 1998. This study provides an updated estimate for 1998–2005. Methods Injury data from the Pennsylvania workers' compensation program were linked with employment data from unemployment compensation records to calculate lost‐time rates for single‐establishment manufacturing firms with more than 10 employees. These rates were linked to OSHA inspection findings. The RAND Human Subjects Protection Committee determined that this study was exempt from review Results Inspections with penalties reduced injuries by an average of 19–24% annually in the 2 years following the inspection. These effects were not found for workplaces with fewer than 20 or more than 250 employees or for inspections without penalties. Conclusions These findings should be generalizable to the 29 states where federal OSHA directly enforces standards. They suggest that the impact of inspections has increased from the 1990s. Am. J. Ind. Med. 55:964–975, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:0271-3586
1097-0274
DOI:10.1002/ajim.22062