March 16, 2005—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has identified and sent letters to almost 14,000 workplaces with the highest occupational injury and illness rates, urging employers to take action to remove hazards causing the high rates.
The employers are those whose establishments are covered by Federal OSHA and reported the highest “Days Away from work, Restricted work or job Transfer injury and illness” (DART) rate to OSHA in a survey of 2003 injury and illness data. For every 100 full-time workers, the 14,000 employers had 6.5 or more injuries or illnesses which resulted in days away from work, restricted work or job transfer. The national average is 2.6.
The letter encourages employers to consider hiring an outside safety and health consultant, talking with their insurance carrier, or contacting the workers’ compensation agency in their state for advice.
Employers with 250 or fewer workers can ask for assistance from OSHA’s on-site consultation program. The consultation program is administered by state agencies and operated separately from OSHA’s inspection program. The service is free, and there are no fines even if problems are found. The letter tells the employer where the OSHA consultation program in that state may be contacted.
The 14,000 sites are listed alphabetically, by state, on OSHA’s web site at.
