California’s IIPP reduces injuries among cited employers: report

Pittsburgh – California’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program Standard reduces workplace injuries at businesses that have previously been cited for failing to comply with specific safety provisions in the rule, a new study suggests.

Conducted by the RAND Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace, the study found when the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health found failures to comply with provisions in the standard that included training workers, identifying and abating hazards, and investigating injury causes, the injury rates at those targeted businesses fell by at least 20 percent in the two years following the inspection.

While large drops in injury rates were found in businesses cited for the specific safety-related provisions in the standard, violations of such provisions only occurred in 5 percent of all Cal/OSHA inspections. As a result, study authors were not able to conclude what effect the rule has on injuries and illnesses in the state as a whole.

RAND researchers suggested the limited impact of the state’s standard was due to inspectors failing to go beyond a review of whether an employer had a written program, and urged inspectors to conduct a more in-depth analysis of employer programs.