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Workplace Safety Policy: Past, Present, and Future
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Abstract
With an annual budget of about 400million,theOccupationalSafetyandHealthAdministration(OSHA)isabout5percentthesizeoftheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency,anotherfederalagencycreatedbyPresidentRichardM.Nixonin1970,the"YearoftheEnvironment."NearlyallworkersintheUnitedStatescomeunderOSHAâČsjuridction,withsomenotableexceptions,includingminers,transportationworkers,manypublicemployees,andpeoplewhoareselfâemployed.OSHAiscurrentlyresponsibleforptoectingover100millionworkersat6millionworksiteswiththehelpofonlyabout2,000workplacehealthandsafetyinspectors.Nevertheless,suppoersofOSHAarguethatithassignificantlyimprovedworkersafetyoverthelast30yearsandthatabeefedâupenforcementeffortwouldproduceevengreaterimprovements.WeexaminetheavailableevidenceandfindlittlesupporttothenotionthatOSHAhaseffectivelyreducedaccidentsanddiseasesintheworkplaceorthatamorevigorousenforcementcampaignwouldbelikelytodoso.Otherpolicyinstrumentsââtortlaws,stateWorkersâČCompensationinsuranceprograms,andresearchandpubliceducationonthecausesandconsequencesofworkhazardsâânowkeepworkplacedeathsandinjurieslowandcanreducethemevenmore.Thewagepremiums,estimatedat210 billion per year, that workers receive for accepting job-related health hazards give employers a stronger economic incentive to eliminate workplace health and safety hazards than the $132 million per year in fines imposed by OSHA and its state counterparts for violations of workplace safety standards. Because of the heterogeneity of workers and firms, we argue that public policy should expand the economic incentives for workplace safety while allowing firms and workers freedom to discover on their own the best ways to improve workplace safety.