Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Quantitative investigations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Federal Agency Targeting (FEDTARG) program reveal that Federal worksites inspected under this program had, on average, seven fewer lost time cases (LTCs) in the year after inspection than they did in the year before inspection. This before-and-after difference in LTCs is a regression-adjusted estimate, not a measure of the causal effects of FEDTARG inspections. In addition to informing OSHA on policies and practices, this study demonstrates the opportunities and challenges of utilizing administrative data collected for programmatic and regulatory purposes to better understand the characteristics and behaviors of worksites.