Are OSHA Health Inspections Effective? A Longitudinal Study in the Manufacturing Sector / Wayne B. Gray, Carol Adaire Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gray, Wayne B.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Jones, Carol Adaire.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w3233.

NBER working paper series no. w3233

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1990.

Summary:

We examine the impact of OSHA health inspections on compliance with agency regulations in the manufacturing sector, with a unique plant-level dataset of inspection and compliance behavior during 1972-1983, the first twelve years of OSHA enforcement operations. Two major findings are robust across the range of linear and count models estimated in the paper: (1) the number of citations and the number of violations of worker exposure restrictions decrease with additional health inspections in manufacturing plants; and (2) the first health inspection has the strongest impact. The results suggest that prior research focusing on the limited impact of OSHA safety regulations may under-estimate OSHA's total contribution to reducing workplace risks.

Notes:

Print version record

January 1990.