OSHA Announces 2013 Inspection Plan for High-Hazard Workplaces

February 14, 2013 - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced its 2013 inspection initiative for workplaces with above-average incidences of injuries and illness. The plan is to randomly inspect a minimum of 1,260 workplaces based on data collected from a survey of 80,000 companies in "high-hazard" industries.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) quoted a written news statement from David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, “Through the SST program, we can prevent injuries and illnesses and save lives by focusing our inspection resources on employers in high-hazard worksites where workers are at greater risk.”

This extension of OSHA's 2012 Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program became effective on Jan. 4, 2013 and is expected to continue through January, 2014. It targets non-construction businesses with 20 or more employees (down from the previous threshold of 40).

The Primary Inspection List will focus on employers “most likely to be experiencing elevated rates and numbers of occupational injuries and illnesses” based on prior data collections. OSHA will also formulate a Secondary Inspection List based on initial inspection criteria.

OSHA will also use this data to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, generating statistics on repeat workplace injuries and providing insight into the effectiveness of the program.

Read the full OSHA announcement here.

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