Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Maria T. Bulzacchelli and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH. Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-7982, mbulzacc@jhsph.edu

In 1989, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promulgated the Control of Hazardous Energy Standard, or “Lockout/Tagout Standard,” to prevent injuries to workers performing maintenance on machinery or equipment. The standard requires employers in general industry to establish an energy control program and sets minimum criteria for energy control procedures, employee training, inspections, and characteristics of locks and tags. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the Lockout/Tagout Standard on rates of machinery-related fatal occupational injury. Data from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities Surveillance System show that in the ten years before OSHA's Lockout/Tagout Standard took effect, the number of machinery-related fatalities per 100,000 workers in manufacturing was declining an average of 0.1 percent per year, from 1.00 in 1980 to 0.96 in 1989. In the nine years following the standard's passage, these rates declined more sharply, an average of 3.5 percent per year, to 0.68 deaths per 100,000 workers in 1998. By comparison, the average annual decrease in non-machinery-related fatalities in manufacturing was 2.8 percent pre-standard but only 1.9 percent post-standard. During the same period, there have been changes in economic conditions and workforce demographics that also may have affected occupational injury rates. An interrupted time-series analysis will determine the effect of the Lockout/Tagout Standard on occupational injury fatality rates after controlling for such economic and demographic factors. It is important to determine whether or not occupational safety policies are reducing injury rates so that appropriate future policy actions can be taken.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to

• Describe the impact of the Lockout/Tagout Standard on machinery-related fatality rates in the manufacturing industry;
• Discuss the strengths and limitations of using an interrupted time-series analysis for evaluating occupational safety regulations;
• Identify a potential policy action to further prevent occupational injury fatalities during machinery maintenance.

Keywords: Occupational Injury and Death, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered