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23/06/2008
The US system for measuring workplace safety is flawed and misses up to half of all workplace injuries, according to a report presented last week at a hearing on OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting workers' safety and health. "Without accurate injury and illness statistics, employers and workers are unable to identify and address safety and health hazards, and policy makers are unable to assess the state of workplace safety in this country," said George Miller, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. He added: "We simply must not allow a lack of information to permit hazardous working conditions to go unaddressed, putting workers' limbs and lives at risk." The committee report said both employers and OSHA have incentives to report and use faulty data. The fewer injuries and illnesses an employer reports, the less likely the employer will be inspected by OSHA and the more likely it will pay lower premiums for workers' compensation.
Bob Whitmore, former chief of the OSHA recordkeeping division, is highly critical of the safety watchdog. "I contend that the current OSHA injury and illness information is inaccurate, due in part to the wide scale underreporting by employers and OSHA's willingness to accept these falsified numbers," he said. "There are many reasons why OSHA would accept these numbers, but one important institutional factor has dramatically affected the agency: steady annual declines in the number of workplace injuries and illnesses make it appear that OSHA is fulfilling its mission." OSHA has dramatically reduced its enforcement programme, instead promoting a series of voluntary approaches, including industry "alliances" and "voluntary protection programmes".
Source: Risks
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