March 6, 2002—Approximately 13,000 employers have been notified that injury and illness rates at their worksites are higher than average and that assistance is available to help them fix safety and health hazards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced recently.
Establishments with the nation’s highest lost workday injury and illness rates were identified by OSHA through employer-reported data from a 2001 survey of 80,000 worksites (the survey consisted of data from calendar year 2000). The workplaces identified had eight or more injuries or illnesses resulting in lost workdays or restricted activity for every 100 full-time workers; the national average is three instances for the same number of workers.
OSHA Administrator John L. Henshaw sent letters to all employers identified in the survey, and provided copies of their injury and illness data, along with a list of the most frequently violated OSHA standard for their specific industry. While he expressed concern about the high rates, Henshaw also offered the agency’s assistance in helping turn the numbers around. The 13,000 sites are listed alphabetically, by state, on OSHA’s Web site. The list does not designate those earmarked for any future inspections. An announcement of targeted inspections will be made later this year. Also, the 13,000 sites are establishments in states covered by federal OSHA. The list does not include employers in the 24 states and two territories that operate their own federally approved state OSHA programs.
