A new study by the RAND Corporation reports that California's longstanding injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) succeeds in protecting workers when coupled with effective enforcement practices.

The first-ever evaluation of the California I2P2 identified specific components of the California program, such as training and accident investigation, that are effective in preventing injuries. In addition, the report found that the approach used in California can significantly reduce workplace injuries, but only if it is adequately enforced.

John Mendeloff, lead author of the study and a senior public policy researcher for RAND, suggested that safety and health impacts for workers are greater when employers treat illness and injury prevention as more that just a paper program. According to Mendeloff, the positive impacts are more pronounced when inspectors go beyond a simple review of employers' written documents.

OSHA recently published a new white paper that reaffirmed its commitment to I2P2.