Safety committees see mixed success: study

Workplaces with safety committees may not have a larger drop in injury rates than those without, suggests a study of Pennsylvania employers conducted by Santa Monica, CA-based research institution RAND Corp.

Pennsylvania provides a 5 percent discount on workers' compensation insurance premiums to organizations with a certified joint labor management safety committee. Using data from unemployment insurance, workers' comp and safety committee audits, researchers found organizations with certified safety committees did not experience a greater decline in injury rates than companies without such committees, according to a study abstract.

Although their injury rates did not decline more than nonparticipants, participating organizations with "good" compliance saw a bigger drop in injury rates than participating firms with "poor" compliance, the abstract said.

The study appeared in the June issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.