OSHA to Employers: Your Injury and Illness Rates are Too High

April 25, 2006
As many as 14,000 employers will be receiving notices from OSHA in the mail this month alerting them that their injury and illness rates are significantly higher than the national average.

In the letter, OSHA explains that the notification is a proactive step to encourage employers to take steps now to reduce those rates and improve the safety and health environment in their workplaces.

"This identification process is meant to raise awareness that injuries and illnesses are high at these facilities," OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke Jr. said. "Our goal is to identify workplaces where injury and illness rates are high, and to offer assistance to employers so they can address the hazards and reduce occupational injuries and illnesses."

OSHA identified establishments with the nation's highest workplace injury and illness rates through employer-reported data from a 2005 survey of 80,000 worksites (the survey consisted of data from calendar year 2004). The workplaces had six or more injuries or illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer (DART) for every 100 full-time workers.

The national average during 2004 was 2.5 DART instances for every 100 workers.

Agency Offers its Help

In addition to receiving copies of the illness and injury data, employers are getting a list of the most frequently violated OSHA standards for their specific industry. The letter also offers the agency's assistance in helping turn the numbers around, suggesting, among other things, that employers take advantage of free safety and health consultation services provided by OSHA, state workplace safety agencies, insurance carriers or outside safety and health consultants.

Although there are no specific statistics on the number of employers who contact OSHA for help as a result of receiving the letters, there is a considerable spike in the number of calls made to OSHA safety and health consultants, an OSHA spokesperson noted. The agency has been sending out the about same number of notices for the past 7 years since the data collection was initiated, the spokesperson said.

Sponsored Recommendations

Committing to Safety: Why Leadership’s Role in Safety Excellence is Key

Jan. 13, 2025
Leadership has the power to transform an organization through their behavior and vision, which can result in the creation of an organizational culturethat supports safety excellence...

Speak Up! Cementing "See Something, Say Something" to Drive Safety

Jan. 13, 2025
Many organizations promote "see something, say something" to encourage their people to intervene and make work safe. But most don't go far enough to equip teams with the skills...

The Truth and Challenges of Cultivating Chronic Unease

Jan. 13, 2025
DEKRA announces its latest white paper, “The Truth and Challenges of Cultivating Chronic Unease,” as a definitive look into why being vulnerable to incidents strengthens our commitment...

Mitigating Risks: Strategies for Safeguarding Workers in Hazardous Workplaces

Jan. 13, 2025
Join our expert team in taking on the challenge to make safety part of your organization’s DNA as work, the workforce, and workplaces evolve.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of EHS Today, create an account today!