The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s oversight of federal agency safety programs is not as effective as it could be because the agency does not use its enforcement and compliance assistance resources strategically, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said that although inspectors are one of OSHA’s primary enforcement tools, the agency does not conduct many inspections of federal worksites and lacks a national strategy for targeting worksites with high injury and illness rates for inspection.
While the agency is responsible for tracking violations that agencies dispute and for reporting unresolved disputes to the President, it does not track disputed violations or their resolution, according to GAO-06-379.
Further, it said that although the agency is required to review agency safety programs and report to the President each year, as of January, the last report submitted was for fiscal year 2000.
OSHA has a range of compliance assistance programs designed to help agencies comply with its regulations, but those programs are not being utilized, GAO said.
After surveying 57 agencies, GAO said most reported having at least one activity falling into each of six categories associated with a sound safety program — management commitment, employee involvement, education and training, identification of hazards, correction of hazards, and medical management.
It said however that agencies faced implementation challenges cutting across those categories in the areas of data management, accountability, and safety resources.
The report also said agencies lack automated systems for tracking elements of their safety programs such as training, several did not demonstrate that their managers are held accountable for maintaining effective safety programs, and many officials said that they frequently have to depend on safety officers with limited professional safety experience because of limited resources.
