Safety partnership with OSHA brings good results
Safety partnership with OSHA brings good results
The Cooperative Compliance Program set up in North and South Dakota has produced impressive results, with dramatically reduced injury and illness rates, fewer lost work days, at least $2.8 million in workers’ compensation savings, and development of new and improved workplace safety and health programs.
The "Dakota First" Cooperative Compliance Program is part of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new effort at working with employers to improve safety instead of just inspecting and fining violators. Bruce Beelman, area director of the Bismarck Area Office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), recently announced the good results and called the program an outstanding success.
A total of 123 companies at 212 sites in the two states joined OSHA in 1995 in the three-year program to reduce injuries and illnesses at businesses with the highest incidence of workers’ comp claims. In 1995, participating employers submitted detailed action plans that provided a strategy to identify and correct occupational hazards in their workplaces.
The primary goals of the program were to measurably reduce injuries and illnesses, and to ensure the companies developed or implemented effective safety and health programs. Beelman noted the safety effort included substantial employee participation.
The improvements included overall lost work day injury and illness (LWDII) rates, reductions in workers’ comp costs, decreased number of lost work days, plus improvement of existing, and development of new safety and health programs. These are some of the major accomplishments:
• LWDII rates. Seventy-five percent of the companies experienced a decrease in LWDII rates. Seven companies experienced a dramatic decrease, as much as a 90% reduction. Additionally, 16 sites ended with a 0.0 incident rate. The baseline LWDII for all companies decreased by 22%.
• Workers’ compensation. A majority of the companies voluntarily provided information indicating a decrease in their workers’ comp premiums and their EMRs (experience rate for premiums). In particular, 38 of these companies said that in 1996 and 1997 they saved a combined total of $2,876,560 in workers’ compensation costs. Seventy-seven companies reported a reduction in EMRs indicating a cost savings in premiums.
A single company reported savings of $360,000 in 1997.
• Lost days. Of the 123 participating companies, 89 reported a combined 36% decrease in the number of lost work days (17,909 in 1995 to 11,394 in 1997). Thirty-four companies reported a combined 70% decrease in the number of lost workdays (12,759 lost days in 1995 to 3,853 in 1997).
• Safety and health surveys. Fifty-six companies also identified a total of 8,800 hazards as a result of self-audits.
• Evaluation of safety and health programs. Fifty monitoring inspections were conducted by the Bismarck OSHA Area Office. All of the companies were found to have implemented a comprehensive safety and health program with full employee involvement.
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