Evaluating the Impact of OSHA’s Enforcement Interventions Evaluation Design Report
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About the Report
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) agency responsible for promoting safe and healthful working conditions. Under the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act, OSHA is authorized to conduct inspections of worksites to determine whether employers are compliant with workplace safety and health standards. The majority of OSHA inspections are programmed inspections, where the agency selects and targets establishments based on a number of criteria, including injury/illness rates, citation history, or random selection. OSHA also conducts inspections initiated as a result of imminent danger, fatalities, referrals, and complaints.
One of the most important OSHA-programmed inspection initiatives is the Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program. The SST program focuses on inspections of non-construction employers with 40 or more workers. In a typical year, the SST program conducts approximately 2,900 inspections of employers with high injury/illness rates. The purpose of the current project is to design an evaluation to assess the impact of OSHA’s SST program on employer compliance.
This report provides a detailed description of three random assignment evaluation design options that can be used to assess the impact of the SST program’s on employer compliance under the Evaluating the Impact of OSHA’s Enforcement Interventions study. Researchers also discuss some important implementation issues that OSHA should take into account. Finally, they make recommendations regarding which evaluation design option to adopt and discuss the implementation process for ensuring the evaluation is rigorously implemented.
Citation
Weissbein, D., Michaelides, M., Benus, J. (2010). Evaluating the Impact of OSHA’s Enforcement Interventions: Evaluation Design Report. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.