The primary mission of all state plans is to ensure every worker goes home healthy and whole.
Enforcement plays a critical role in fulfilling this mission. Each state plan has legislative
authority to monitor safety and health conditions in the workplaces covered by their program.
The state-plan states continually review their targeting systems to make sure they are inspecting
those establishments that have the most problems and avoid inspecting those establishments that are
providing a safe and healthful work environment.
Each state-plan’s legislation proscribes how these monitoring or inspection visits will occur.
Because this statutory authority prevents the programs from giving advance notice, compliance
officers may not set up an appointment prior to the initial visit. The state plans are also required
to issue citations and assess penalties for identified hazards.
Every day, more than 1,300 enforcement personnel in the state-plan states work diligently to help
ensure workplaces are as safe and healthy as possible. It is the goal of these compliance officers
to conduct inspections in a professional and efficient manner, with minimal disruption in the
workplace.
Safety and health programs
California
California law requires all employers to set up effective written injury and illness prevention
programs. Employers must conduct periodic worksite inspections to identify unsafe conditions and
work practices, and eliminate any hazards found.
Minnesota
Minnesota requires employers in industries with high injury and illness incidence and severity
rates to develop a written workplace safety and health program. Under Minnesota’s A Workplace
Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Act, employers of 25 or more employees are required to
establish a joint labor-management safety committee.
Washington
Washington requires every employer to develop a written plan (Accident Prevention Program, or
APP) addressing the hazards of that business. The plan must include a safety and health committee of
employer and employee representatives, and employee training about safe work practices. WISHA has
developed videos, workshops and online sample programs to help employers and their employees
establish accident prevention programs on their own. WISHA’s APP Web site includes sample programs
for general industry, as well as industry-specific samples for construction, agriculture,
firefighting, logging, masonry, restaurants and sawmills. It is online at www.lni.wa.gov/safety/basics/programs/accident/default.htm.
In addition, the Web site has sample programs for chemical hazard communication, confined space,
respiratory protection and hearing loss prevention. Employers can also request an on-site
consultation for assistance with developing written programs.
Site-specific targeting
Alaska
Alaska continues to use workers’ compensation data to target worksites with high injury or
illness rates. This allows for targeting worksites based on current data, because most of the data
is entered within three months. Alaska has two local-emphasis programs, the public sector and the
high-hazards targets (HHT). The HHT list is developed using workers’ compensation data, allowing
Alaska Occupational Safety and Health to target those worksites with the highest injury rates.
Arizona
Arizona has developed an inspection targeting program that uses workers’ compensation data to
identify individual employers with high rates of claims.
California
California OSHA continues to receive funding provided under workers’ compensation reform
legislation for a targeted consultation program with a more proactive focus. Consultation visits are
offered to high-hazard employers as an alternative to targeted inspections. The targeted
consultation program supplements the enforcement program and targets industries selected for
targeting by enforcement. The Cal/OSHA consultation program has developed numerous publications,
including model injury and illness prevention training programs dealing with such topics as
workplace security, repetitive motion injuries (RMIs) and other topics.
Kentucky
During fiscal-year 2004, Kentucky maintained its increased compliance presence in the
construction sector by conducting 874 construction inspections. Kentucky was able to maintain this
level of activity in construction by increased efficiency and productivity with fewer field staff
members.
Michigan
Michigan pioneered a general industry safety inspection scheduling program that relies on survey
data, site-specific injury data and workers’ compensation data to target workplaces with high hazard
conditions. Michigan OSHA (MIOSHA) has recently piloted a focused inspection concept as an
alternative to wall-to-wall inspections. With this approach, significant industry hazards are the
focus of inspections. This approach was determined to be an effective use of agency resources and
will be expanded.
MIOSHA initiated an increased focus on health issues at construction sites by piloting joint safety
and health inspections. Construction safety and health officers are cross-trained to recognize
significant hazards outside their areas of expertise. The program proved very successful in
fiscal-year 2004, with 210 inspections and 100 combined inspections.
MIOSHA has received Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding since 1997 for the
Adult blood lead epidemiology and surveillance (ABLES) program. Because
of the referrals from ABLES to enforcement and other related MIOSHA initiatives, there have been great
reductions in the rate of elevated blood leads in Michigan adults.
Minnesota
Minnesota OSHA (MNOSHA) inspection activities concentrate on workplaces with high injury and
illness rates. To determine which industries to target in general industry scheduling, MNOSHA uses
the federal OSHA Data Initiative, workers’ compensation information and high-hazard standard
industrial classification (SIC) codes that are based on data from the Bureau of Labor and
Statistics.
Health inspections are prioritized based on NIOSH-identified industries with a high potential of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, BLS-identified industries with high nonfatal occupational
illness rates and a local emphasis program targeting potential isocyanate exposure.
MNOSHA’s current strategic goal is to conduct 60 percent of all programmed (routine) inspections in
the following areas:
- construction;
- lumber and wood products;
- furniture and fixtures;
- paper and allied products;
- rubber and miscellaneous plastic;
- food and kindred products;
- industrial machine and equipment; and
- public sector.
In addition, MNOSHA has established pilot programs in which the goal is to conduct
5 percent of all programmed inspection in the following areas:
- printing and publishing;
- auto dealers and service stations;
- communication; and
- hotels and lodging.
In construction, MNOSHA uses construction Dodge reports to locate active construction
worksites. Additionally, MNOSHA conducts activity-generated inspections in construction. Criteria used to
determine if a worksite is appropriate for an activity-generated inspection includes: demolition
work, bridge work and structures taller than 30 feet, roofing work and sites that have equipment
that could cause a crushing or struck-by injury.
Nevada
Nevada OSHA (NV OSHA) starts its site-specific targeting system using the Nevada Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) most current data. By evaluating BLS data, NV OSHA can select and rank workplaces
with the highest incidence rates of injury and illness to employees. The agency also augments this
selection process by establishing its own special-emphasis programs. Both processes help ensure NV
OSHA’s focus and priorities remain to be the protection of employees who are exposed to the most
hazardous work environments.
New Jersey
In federal-fiscal-year 2004, New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH)
planned to reduce the number of worker injuries and illnesses by focusing statewide attention and
resources on the most prevalent types of injuries and illnesses in the most hazardous public
occupations and workplaces in state, county and local agencies in specific targeted standard
identification classification (SIC) codes.
New Jersey PEOSH enforcement maintains a strong presence as an effective deterrent for employers
that fail to meet their safety and health responsibilities.
Federal-fiscal-year 2004 NJ PEOSH enforcement targeted:
- Department of Transportation, SIC 1611;
- sewage treatment, SIC 4592; and
- nursing homes, SIC 8051.
North Carolina
North Carolina has established a site-specific targeting schedule based on data secured through
the OSHA Data Initiative. The survey schedule is based on establishment-specific employer DART data.
The state has also initiated a public-sector survey. The data from this survey is used to determine
high injury and illness incidence rates at public-sector establishments that may receive
consultation, a comprehensive compliance inspection and/or education and training assistance.
Targeting schedules have also been established for special-emphasis programs, including lumber and
wood products, furniture and fixture industries; lead; and silica.
Oregon
Oregon OSHA ranks employers on one of four inspection scheduling lists based on the employer’s
history of accepted disabling claims, industry, violation history, a weighted claims count and a
weighted claims rate. The system assigns employers point values for each category, based on specific
criteria. Employers eligible for inspection are then ranked by their inspection history.
Oregon OSHA has also established a site-specific inspection program for construction sites. Based on
active project site data received from several sources, a randomly sorted inspection scheduling list
of construction sites is generated monthly. All employers on a selected inspection site are subject
to a comprehensive inspection.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico OSHA continued using two local-emphasis program (LEP) directives issued during
fiscal-year 2004: woodworking industries – targeting manufacturing wood products and furniture; and
auto repair and body shops industries – targeting automotive painting and refinishing activities.
Utah
Utah uses a combination of federal (BLS), state (Division of Industrial Accidents) and
commercially available data sources to target high-risk worksites. Industries with BLS incidence
rates higher than the state’s private-sector average are initially targeted. This list is fine-tuned
by using the local Division of Industrial Accidents data that provides more real-time data. Finally,
new construction projects are identified through the building permit process and are targeted during
the construction “drive-around” program.
Washington
Washington was the first state in the nation to have both an exclusive state fund workers’
compensation system and an OSH program, WISHA, in the same agency. This provides an unequaled
opportunity to use injury, illness and claims data to identify hazardous industries and problem
employers. WISHA targets employers for services coordinated by enforcement, consultation, education
and training, and risk management.
Wyoming
In 1994, Wyoming’s state plan merged with its workers’ compensation system, giving it access
to employers’ compensation data. With that access to company-specific workers’ compensation data for
more than 16,000 businesses, Wyoming is able to identify specific employers for inspections by
comparing their number of claims reported to the number of employees, the cost of claims compared to
the premium cost, the average cost of a claim and the experience modification rating. Instead of
concentrating on specific industries, Wyoming is able to focus on individual employers. This
information is used to identify employers for inspections or, if the employer chooses, a
consultation visit.
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Section: State responsibility: Enhanced enforcement»
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