OSHA Inspections a Net Win-Win for Both Workers and Employers

April 5, 2013- David Michaels, head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has been promoting the message, "OSHA Does Not Kill Jobs; It Helps Prevent Jobs From Killing Workers" since his appointment in 2009.

A group of recent studies backs this up, providing "a substantial body of empirical evidence showing that enforcement has a strong, positive impact for both workers and employers," Michaels said. Together these studies provide a powerful bottom-line response to those critics who question OSHA's value.

These studies not only demonstrate that OSHA inspections result in reduced injury risk, they also show that employers inspected by OSHA generally see cost savings exceeding any penalties levied by inspectors. According to Michaels, "The result is that all the parties involved benefit from OSHA inspections: workers are less likely to be injured and employers' workers' compensation and other indirect costs are reduced."

Among the findings:                     

• Workplace injury claims dropped 9.4 percent at businesses randomly chosen by researchers compared with employers not inspected.
  
• Those same employers saved an average of 26 percent on workers' compensation costs.
• The positive effects of random inspections were seen among both small and large employers.
• Free confidential onsite consultation programs for smaller business (less than 250 employees) appeared to result in reduced injuries, although the magnitude of the reduction was not as sizable as that following an inspection with a penalty.
• A professional safety or industrial hygiene consultation from OSHA costs far less than a professional consultant.
• Total violations decreased by 28-48 percent from the first OSHA inspection to the second one, as employers abate hazards, resulting in reduced exposures and injuries. 

While not all inspections result in penalties, inspections accompanied by penalties are shown to result in reduced injuries. "It is clear that the presence and type of citation changes the behavior of employers, resulting in changes to worker injury risk," Michaels said.

Taken together, the consistent findings of these studies, conducted in three different states by researchers independent of each other, show that OSHA inspections "not only improve safety, they cause no discernible damage to employers' ability to stay in business and no reductions in sales or credit ratings, according to our research."

The studies also did not pinpoint any negative effects of workplace inspections on wages, total payroll, or employment.

"Translated to the nation as a whole," one study reported, "OSHA inspections nationwide could be saving employers $20 billion annually."

Carnow Conibear and Associates is a demonstrated leader in the occupational and environmental health professions since 1975. To find out more, click here or call us at (800) 860-4486.