The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) concluded that effective management of worker safety and health protection is a decisive factor in reducing the extent and the severity of work-related injuries and illnesses. Effective management addresses all work-related hazards, including those potential hazards that could result from a change in worksite conditions or practices. It addresses hazards whether or not they are regulated by government standards. OSHA has reached this conclusion in the course of their evaluation of worksites in their Enforcement Programs, their State-Operated Consultation Programs, and their Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). These evaluations have revealed a basic relationship between effective management of worker safety and health protection, and a low incidence and severity of employee injuries. Such management also correlates with the elimination or adequate control of employee exposure to toxic substances and other unhealthful conditions.
OSHA's experience in the Voluntary Protection Programs has also indicated that effective management of safety and health protection improves employee moral and productivity, as well as significantly reducing workers' compensation costs and other less obvious costs of work-related injuries and illnesses.