Workplace health and safety regulations: Impact of enforcement and consultation on workers' compensation claims rates in Washington State
Workplace health and safety regulations: Impact of enforcement and consultation on workers' compensation claims rates in Washington State
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DOI：
10.1002/ajim.10209
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发表时间：
2003-05-01
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Foley, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Baggs, J;Silverstein, B;Foley, M
背景在公共政策竞技场中，关于在实现跨行业的期望健康和安全行为时，监管执法和咨询的适当组合存在相当大的争论。最近，联邦政策转向自愿方法和限制执法计划的范围，尽管几乎没有证据表明这可能改善健康和安全结果。为了解决这个问题，我们研究了华盛顿州雇主的损失时间工人赔偿索赔率的变化，这些雇主（1）没有OSHA国家计划（WISHA）活动，（2）执行，（3）咨询，（4）两种类型的访问。和WISHA活动确定了每个雇主帐户与一个单一的业务地点，有工资小时报告，每个季度从1997-2000年，员工10多人。结果在控制了以往的索赔率和平均规模的情况下，在固定地点行业SIC代码中，有WISHA执行活动的雇主的索赔率下降了22.5%，而没有WISHA活动的雇主的索赔率下降了7（P < 0.05），而在非固定部位SIC（例如，与没有WISHA活动的雇主相比，有执法活动的雇主的索赔率下降了12.8%（P > 0.10）。WISHA咨询活动与可赔偿索赔率的大幅下降无关（固定地点为-2.3%，非固定地点为+3.5%）。WISHA活动没有不利影响工地生存能力通过studyperiod.Conclusions执法检查显着相关的可补偿的工人赔偿索赔率下降，特别是forfixed网站的雇主。我们无法确定咨询活动与索赔率下降之间的联系。(C)2003 Wiley-Liss，Inc.
Background There has been considerable debate in the public policy arena about the appropriate mix of regulatory enforcement and consultation in achieving desired health and safety behavior across industries. Recently there has been a shift in federal policy toward voluntary approaches and constraining the scope of enforcement programs, although there is little evidence that this might improve health and safety outcomes. To address this, we examined changes in lost time workers compensation claims rates for Washington State employers who had (1) no OSHA State Plan (WISHA) activity, (2) enforcement, (3) consultation, and (4) both types of visits.Methods Compensable claims rates, hours, and WISHA activity were determined for each employer account with a single business location that had payroll hours reported for every quarter from 1997-2000 and more than 10 employees. We used a generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach to Poisson regression to model the association between WISHA activity and claims rate controlling for other external factors.Results Controlling for previous claims rate and average size, claims rates for employers with WISHA enforcement activity declined 22.5% in fixed site industry SIC codes compared to 7% among employers with no WISHA activity(P < 0.05), and in non-fixed site SICs (e.g., construction) claims rates declined 12.8% for employers with enforcement activity compared to a 7.4% decline for those with no WISHA activity (P > 0.10). WISHA consultation activity was not associated with a greater decline in compensable claims rates (-2.3% for fixed sites and +3.5% for non-fixed sites). WISHA activity did not adversely affect worksite survivability through the study period.Conclusions Enforcement inspections are significantly associated with decreasing compensable workers compensation claims rates especially forfixed site employers. We were unable to identify an association between consultation activities and decreasing claims rates. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.