An occupational safety program that requires California businesses to eliminate workplace hazards only works when it’s adequately enforced.
That revelation comes from Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank RAND Corp., which recently released a study evaluating the California Injury and Illness Prevention Program.
RAND, which says this is the first study to be conducted on the program, shows the program reduces workplace injuries, but only at businesses that had been cited for not addressing the regulation’s more-specific safety mandates.
The program is designed to save countless dollars in workplace injury payouts. One underlying question that arises from the study, its authors say, is: Are there more firms with non-compliance problems that went undetected because of “superficial” inspections?
CIIPP, which began in 1991, mandates certain procedures for employers, including communicating to employees about risks, carrying out workplace surveys, abating hazards, safety training and investigating causes of injuries.
The program has been the most frequently violated California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard in every year since its inception, being cited in about 25 percent of all inspections, according to RAND.
“We found the safety effects to be real, but not very large,” said John Mendeloff, lead author of the study and a senior public policy researcher
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