	Background

Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in 1970 to  ensure safe and healthy working conditions for every worker in the nation. OSHA Has Employed a Variety of Voluntary Compliance Strategies, Which Has Extended the Agency’s Reach to a Growing Number of Employers

OSHA’s voluntary compliance strategies—four programs plus compliance  assistance activities such as education and outreach—have expanded the  agency’s reach to a growing number of employers. Voluntary Strategies Appear to Have Many Positive Outcomes, but the Absence of Comprehensive Data Limits Assessment

While OSHA’s voluntary compliance strategies have increased the number  of worksites the agency reaches, and participants and others have  provided enthusiastic testimony regarding their ability to foster better  safety and health practices, the lack of comprehensive data on the  outcomes of the programs has hindered our ability to assess their  effectiveness. Improved Relationships with OSHA and between Employers and Employees

According to employers and employees at worksites we visited, voluntary  compliance programs also improved their relationships with OSHA and  improved the relationships between management officials and employees. For example, one  partnership only provided data on injuries and illnesses for 25 of its 222  participants. Alliance Program—Goals for each alliance are individually developed  and are often not readily measurable. The strategies that researchers  and specialists proposed generally fell into four categories: (1) providing  more incentives to encourage additional employers to voluntarily improve  safety and health in the workplace; (2) promote more systematic  approaches to workplace safety and health; (3) focusing more specifically  on high-hazard, high-injury workplaces; and (4) using third-party  approaches to achieve voluntary compliance. It may be similarly difficult for OSHA to  monitor and verify this process through employers participating in its  voluntary programs. Furthermore, the agency must balance its plans to expand its  voluntary compliance programs with its enforcement responsibilities.
Why GAO Did This Study

Because the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can inspect only a fraction of 7 million U.S. worksites each year in its efforts to ensure safe and healthy working conditions, the agency has increasingly supplemented enforcement with "voluntary compliance strategies" to reach more employers and employ its resources most effectively. GAO assessed the types of strategies used, the extent of their use, and their effectiveness. GAO also obtained suggestions from specialists for additional voluntary compliance strategies.

What GAO Found

OSHA has implemented four voluntary programs, using a mix of strategies, that have extended its reach to a growing number of employers. For example, one program recognizes more than 1,000 worksites with exemplary records and practices while another focuses on hazardous industries, encouraging more than 200 employers to eliminate serious hazards. The agency plans to significantly expand its voluntary compliance programs over the next few years, although such expansion may tax its limited resources. OSHA's voluntary compliance programs appear to have yielded many positive outcomes, but the agency does not yet have adequate data to assess their individual and relative effectiveness. Employers and employees at nine worksites we visited attested to reductions in injuries and illnesses and improved relationships with one another and with OSHA. However, the agency has just begun to evaluate its programs and much of its data are insufficient for evaluation. For example, data on one program are inconsistent, making comparisons difficult, and goals for another program are individually developed and not readily measurable. The lack of such data makes it difficult for OSHA to articulate priorities and necessary resource allocations. The additional strategies that researchers and specialists suggested generally fell into four categories: providing more incentives to encourage additional employers to voluntarily improve workplace safety and health; promoting more systematic approaches to workplace safety and health; focusing more specifically on high-hazard, high-injury workplaces; and using third-party approaches to achieve voluntary compliance.