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Assessing OSHA Performance: New Evidence from the Construction Industry
Author(s) -
Weil David
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.1022
Subject(s) - enforcement , business , compliance (psychology) , intervention (counseling) , sample (material) , public policy , process (computing) , occupational safety and health , construction industry , public economics , actuarial science , accounting , operations management , engineering , economics , economic growth , political science , law , medicine , computer science , psychology , social psychology , chemistry , chromatography , psychiatry , construction engineering , operating system
The determinants of OSHA performance can be examined by breaking the regulatory process into three elementsrelating to enforcement, compliance behavior, and the adequacy of standards in addressing safety outcomes. Thispaper develops and applies this framework to the U.S. construction industry during the period 1987 to 1993.Enforcement activity among the firms in the sample was substantial, with firms facing a high probability ofannual inspection. But, despite this significant enforcement effort, inspections have a modest effect on firmcompliance with OSHA standards. Finally, the health and safety standards cited most frequently diverge from themajor sources of fatalities and injuries on construction projects. These results suggest that historicenforcement policies toward construction make less sense as OSHA moves into its fourth decade of operation. Moregenerally, the paper illustrates the problem of focusing enforcement resources on large, high‐profilecompanies even though they often are not the major source of regulatory problems in an established area ofpublic policy intervention. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.