The Role of OSHA Violations in Serious Workplace Accidents

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Abstract
California [USA] accident investigations for 1976 showed that violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration''s [OSHA] safety standards were a contributing factor in 13-19% of the 645 deaths reported to the workers'' compensation program. A panel of safety engineers judged that only .apprx. 50% of these violations could have been detected if an inspector had visited the day before the accident. These findings indicated that the potential gains from stronger enforcement of current standards were limited but not insignificant. The likelihood that a violation contributed to a serious accident varied considerably among accident types, industries and size classes of plants. These findings can be used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the OSHA program by means of better targeting of inspections and accident investigations, more intelligent assessment of which violations should be penalized most heavily and the provision of information to employers and workers about which violations are most consequential.

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