In 2010, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and funded IMPAQ International and Summit Consulting to conduct the Evaluation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Site-Specific Targeting Program under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies. The randomized control trial and quasi-experimental regression discontinuity design aimed to understand the direct and indirect impacts of OSHA’s site-specific targeting (SST) inspection program on employers’ regulatory compliance and work sites’ health and safety. The randomized control trial, which included 2,520 worksites, examined the effect of interventions that occurred 2011-2014. The quasi-experimental study, which included 7,045 worksites, examined injury and illness rates two years before and after 2008.

The SST inspection program is OSHA’s primary site-specific programmed inspection initiative for non-construction workplaces with 20 or more employees. OSHA identifies workplaces with the highest rates of injury or illness and implements one of two SST enforcement actions: (1) sending high-rate letters, which warn workplaces about their high injury-illness rates, or (2) conducting inspections of worksites for compliance with safety and health regulations.

This Department of Labor-funded study contributes to the labor evidence-base to inform worker protection, labor standards, and workplace-related benefits and policies and addresses Departmental strategic goals and priorities.

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.