Bloodied but not bowed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cut its losses after an appeals court struck down its Cooperative Compliance Program (CCP) by devising two new ways to show high-injury employers it means business.

Under its CCP targeting plan launched in April 1998, OSHA offered employers with the highest lost workday injury and illness rates the choice of developing cooperative safety and health programs in return for no regular OSHA inspections. However in April 1999, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled against CCP in a lawsuit brought against OSHA by the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.

With CCP disallowed, OSHA now has a new plan for targeting 2,200 high hazard workplaces for inspections by Dec. 31, 1999. The agency said the Site Specific Targeting (SST) Plan will initially cover worksites with a lost workday injury and illness incidence rate above 16.0 per 100 full-time workers. The national average rate was 3.3 in 1997.

OSHA Administrator Charles N. Jeffress said the inspections will be unannounced and comprehensive. "Workplaces with high injury and illness rates are on notice that they will likely undergo an inspection," he said.

In another initiative, OSHA sent letters to 12,500 employers with lost workday incidence rates of 8.0 or higher, urging them to take immediate steps to improve safety and health in their worksites.

In the letter, Jeffress suggested options for reducing hazards, such as seeking advice from expert safety and health consultants, insurance carriers, or state workers' compensation agencies. Businesses with 250 employees or fewer may ask to participate in OSHA's free on-site consultation program, he said.