Worker safety across the United States: Unpacking rates of safety outcomes for different OSHA inspections from 1983 to 2023.

INTRODUCTION Regulatory inspections act as a primary mechanism ensuring workplaces are safe for workers. While the effectiveness of inspections conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been the subject of numerous academic publications, there is no research observing a fairly foundational question regarding OSHA inspections, that being the degree to which their parameters affect rates of violations or injurious accidents uncovered. Functionally, inspections may be programmed (e.g., pre-planned in the traditional routine of activities conducted by OSHA) or unprogrammed (e.g., reacting to an incident or external force. Not pre-planned in the same manner). Along with differences in inspections, workplaces also have variations that may affect the rates of violations or injurious accidents, namely the type of industry or the state context in which they function. METHOD This paper aims to look at rates of violations and injurious accidents for programmed/unprogrammed inspections and, generally,within all industries and states. Further, the current work observes the way these rates change over the course of 40 years. RESULTS Results indicate that inspection characteristics significantly impact violation and accident rates in two clear ways. Generally, unprogrammed inspections result in more violations, but this trend is shifting towards programmed inspections. Unprogrammed inspections reveal higher injurious accident rates, as expected. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Future research implications are outlined.