Don’t Get Caught With Your Safety Program Down

02/27/07

Several thousand high-hazard, general industry workplaces are on a primary list for unannounced inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The so-called site-specific targeting (SST) program of 2006 demonstrates OSHA’s mandate to crack down on unsafe workplace practices. The list includes employers with a certain number of injuries or illnesses per year for every 100 full-time workers. OSHA also randomly selects and inspects 175 workplaces that report low injury and illness rates to ascertain their actual compliance. Keeping your company’s name off OSHA’s inspection list should be one of your top priorities. You can increase your chances of avoiding an inspection by fully complying with OSHA standards and always making sure your employees are safe.

OSHA steps up enforcement through inspection
The agency’s SST program, first introduced in 1999, determines the safety and health conditions in a variety of general businesses. They include manufacturers, repair service firms, wholesalers, food processors, agricultural enterprises, trucking companies and nursing homes, to mention a few. This year’s program is the result of a survey of 80,000 employers’ injury and illness data. From that number, OSHA identified 4,250 companies as high-hazard worksites subject to its targeted inspection program.

To understand the relationship between an employer’s safety and health record and the odds of being inspected, you need to know about two OSHA measurements: the days away, restricted or transferred (DART) rate and the days away from work, injury and illness (DAFWII) rate.

DART
This rate includes cases involving days away from work, restricted work activity and transfers to other jobs. DART is calculated by dividing the number of such cases by the total number of hours worked during the calendar year, then multiplying the result by 200,000. (The 200,000 amount is a base number of hours worked for 100 full-time equivalent employees.) For example, an organization’s employees worked 645,089 hours in a calendar year. There were 22 injury and illness cases involving days away, restricted work activity and job transfers as indicated on the company’s OSHA 300 Log. The DART rate would be 6.8 (22 divided by 645,089 multiplied by 200,000).

DAFWII
This rate puts more emphasis on the number of cases that involve days away from work per 100 full-time equivalent employees. (Temporary transfers to another job or restricted work are not included.) DAFWII is calculated by dividing cases related to days away from work by the total number of hours worked during a year, then multiplying the result by 200,000. Let’s say a company’s employees worked 452,680 hours during the year. There were 25 injury and illness cases involving days away from work, resulting in a DAFWII rate of 11 (25 divided by 452,680 multiplied by 200,000).

OSHA selects for inspection all work sites with a DART rate at or above 12, or a DAFWII rate at or above 9. Only one of these criteria must be met to make the primary inspection list. Say, for example, a company has a DART rate of 9 (acceptable) but a DAFWII rate of 10 (unacceptable). It would be included on OSHA’s primary inspection list.

It should be noted that low-rated companies in high-risk industries are not immune from a targeted inspection. Organizations reporting low DART rates of zero to 2.5, in industries with overall rates of 6.7 to 10.6, catch OSHA’s attention. The ones with 75 employees or more are added to the primary inspection list. Some others are inspected if they did not respond to OSHA’s survey.

Turn to G.Neil for help
You can rely on us to help keep your employees safe and maintain your company’s good standing with OSHA. Our solutions include information for employees about hazardous chemicals, safety training programs and more. Visit us at www.gneil.com for more information.