Occupational safety and health enforcement tools for preventing occupational diseases and injuries

: Mischke C, Verbeek JH, Job J, Morata TC, Alvesalo-Kuusi A, Neuvonen K, Clarke S, Pedlow RI

Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

: 2013

: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

: COCHRANE DATABASE OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

: COCHRANE DB SYST REV

: ARTN CD010183

: 8

: 89

: 1469-493X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010183.pub2

There is evidence that inspections decrease injuries in the long term but not in the short term. The magnitude of the effect is uncertain. There are no studies that used chemical or physical exposures as outcome. Specific, focused inspections could have larger effects than inspections in general. The effect of fines and penalties is uncertain. The quality of the evidence is low to very low and therefore these conclusions are tentative and can be easily changed by better future studies. There is an urgent need for better designed evaluations, such as pragmatic randomised trials, to establish the effects of existing and novel enforcement methods, especially on exposure and disorders.