Injury and Illness Prevention Programs: Do They Work?

In a February white paper, OSHA defines an injury and illness prevention program as "a proactive process to help employers find and fix workplace hazards before workers are hurt."

Says OSHA: "We know these programs can be effective at reducing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Many workplaces have already adopted such approaches, for example as part of OSHA’s cooperative programs. Not only do these employers experience dramatic decreases in workplace injuries, but they often report a transformed workplace culture that can lead to higher productivity and quality, reduced turnover, reduced costs, and greater employee satisfaction."

The key elements common to all of these programs are:

• Management leadership
• Worker participation
• Hazard identification and assessment
• Hazard prevention and control
• Education and training
• Program evaluation and improvement

Every business is different, of course, and one size certainly does not fit all. Employers who implement injury and illness prevention programs must scale and adapt these elements to meet the needs of their organizations, depending on size, industry sector, or complexity of operations.

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Studies Indicate Programs Are Effective

Numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of injury and illness prevention programs. OSHA says the research demonstrates that such programs are effective in:

• Transforming workplace culture
• Leading to reductions in injuries, illnesses and fatalities
• Lowering workers’ compensation and other costs
• Improving morale and communication
• Enhancing image and reputation
• Improving processes, products and services

In 2008 RAND Corporation study, Hangsheng Liu and other researchers examined of effectiveness of Pennsylvania’s voluntary program that provides workers’ compensation premium discounts to employers that establish joint labor-management safety committees. These committees are responsible for implementing several injury and illness prevention program elements, including hazard identification, workplace inspection, and safety management.

The RAND researchers found that among program participants there was a strong association between improved injury and illness experience and the level of compliance with the program requirements.

OSHA claims this is further evidence that "programs with strong management commitment and active worker participation are effective in reducing injury risk, while ‘paper’ programs are, not surprisingly, ineffective."

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 OSHA Stands Behind Programs

The OSHA white paper states that injury and illness prevention programs are based on proven managerial concepts that have been widely used in industry to bring about improvements in quality, environment and safety, and health performance.

"Effective injury and illness prevention programs emphasize top-level ownership of the program, participation by employees, and a ‘find and fix’ approach to workplace hazards," the agency says. Further more, to be effective, they need not be resource-intensive.

OSHA believes that adoption of injury and illness prevention programs based on simple, sound, proven principles will help millions of U.S. businesses:

• Improve their compliance with existing laws and regulations
• Decrease the incidence of workplace injuries and illnesses
• Reduce costs, including significant reductions in workers’ compensation premiums
• Enhance overall business operations

Thirty-four states currently require or encourage employers to implement such programs, including: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the effect of injury and illness program requirements in eight of the 34 states that have some sort of program requirement.