Analyzing new OSHA data sets would help prevent injuries

Injury data sets that OSHA now makes public are an underused resource in preventing workplace injuries. Maintaining and facilitating access to these data would help the United States bring down the “unacceptably high risk” of work-related injuries, according to a new analysis published Feb. 13 in the American Journal of Public Health.

“Millions of U.S. workers are injured on the job every year. And these injuries have a serious impact on injured workers, their families and entire communities,” says David Michaels, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University and lead author of the paper.

“Newly available OSHA injury data sets are a valuable but underused resource for employers, unions, public health advocates, and researchers focused on workplace injury prevention.” Michaels served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA 2009—2017, and was the longest serving administrator in OSHA’s history.

Many workplace deaths and almost all serious injuries go unreported in the media, but for those that receive attention, the police often conclude that it was an accident and the employer often chalks up the event to “human error.” However, OSHA’s data sets tell another story, that work injuries are predictable and preventable.

According to Michaels, “these data sets are invaluable for injury prevention. They enable businesses to benchmark their safety experience against other firms in their industry, workers to choose employment in safer workplaces, and researchers to better understand injury causation.” Michaels added that “journalists are already using the data to investigate workplaces where too many workers are being hurt.”