Throughout every industry, there are a lot of different opinions regarding OSHA. Some opinions are positive, but a lot of them reflect a negative attitude toward the agency. Often, companies blame OSHA for the loss of production and profit. It is widely believed that an OSHA inspection will result in a negative outcome. With personal opinions aside, what do the statistics prove? What attitude toward safety and OSHA should you as an employer take?
Since OSHA was formed in 1970, the workforce has more than doubled in size while work-related deaths have been reduced by 65% and workplace injuries have been reduced by 67%! While we can all agree this is promising news, further studies have shown how OSHA is affecting the individual employer, which is just another motivational factor for seeking OSHA compliance.
Aside from saving lives and protecting workers from injury or illness, OSHA has been linked to the reduction in workers compensation costs. A study by professors of business at Harvard, University of California, Berkley, and Boston University titled, “Randomized Government Safety Inspections Reduce Worker Injuries with no Detectable Job Loss.”
The study focused on businesses that were selected by Cal/OSHA’s randomized inspections. Data showed that work related injury claims were reduced by 9.4% at the businesses who had been inspected by OSHA. Additionally, these companies saved a total of 26% on workers compensation costs in contrast to companies who hadn’t been inspected. In 2011, this resulted in an average savings of $355,000! The study concluded that the nation’s employers could have saved around $20 billion from OSHA inspections similar to those studied from Cal/OSHA’s randomized inspections.
Keep in mind that on top of the direct savings, employers would have saved in indirect costs such as loss of production or a decrease in employee morale.
Safety is like any other aspect of running a business. On the outside, it may seem like you are continually forking out money to implement a safety program, purchase engineering controls and PPE, or paying fines to OSHA after an inspection. However, complying with OSHA’s regulations and establishing an effective safety program at your company will undoubtedly reduce workplace injuries and illnesses, improve employee morale, and increase profitability! So, I’ll ask again, what’s not to like about OSHA?
Sources: