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Publications
Publications
  • May 18, 2012
  • Article
  • Science

Randomized Government Safety Inspections Reduce Worker Injuries with No Detectable Job Loss

By: David I Levine, Michael W. Toffel and Matthew S. Johnson
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Abstract

Controversy surrounds occupational health and safety regulators, with some observers claiming that workplace regulations damage firms' competitiveness and destroy jobs and others arguing that they make workplaces safer at little cost to employers and employees. We analyzed a natural field experiment to examine how workplace safety inspections affected injury rates and other outcomes. We compared 409 randomly inspected establishments in California with 409 matched-control establishments that were eligible, but not chosen, for inspection. Compared with controls, randomly inspected employers experienced a 9.4% decline in injury rates (95% confidence interval = -0.177 to -0.021) and a 26% reduction in injury cost (95% confidence interval = -0.513 to -0.083). We find no evidence that these improvements came at the expense of employment, sales, credit ratings, or firm survival.

Keywords

Regulation; Occupational Safety; Evaluation; Regression; Matching; Difference In Differences; Safety; Health; Working Conditions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competitive Advantage; Performance; Manufacturing Industry; California

Citation

Levine, David I., Michael W. Toffel, and Matthew S. Johnson. "Randomized Government Safety Inspections Reduce Worker Injuries with No Detectable Job Loss." Science 336, no. 6083 (May 18, 2012): 907–911. (Online supplement (appendix). Featured in an article by the head of US OSHA, and in U.S. News & World Report and many other news outlets. Basis of U.S. Congressional testimony on promoting safe workplaces.)

Supplemental Information

Supplement (Appendix)
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About The Author

Michael W. Toffel

Technology and Operations Management
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Related Work

    • 25 Feb 2013
    • Faculty Research

    OSHA Inspections: Saving Workers or Killing Jobs? Evidence from Randomized Inspections in California

    By: Michael W. Toffel
    • September 2014
    • The Compass (Newsletter of the American Society of Safety Engineers)

    OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California

    By: David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
    • 20 May 2015
    • Faculty Research

    Managing Working Conditions in Global Supply Chains

    By: Michael W. Toffel
Related Work
  • OSHA Inspections: Saving Workers or Killing Jobs? Evidence from Randomized Inspections in California By: Michael W. Toffel
  • OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California By: David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
  • Managing Working Conditions in Global Supply Chains By: Michael W. Toffel
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