The Impact of Occupational Safety and Health Regulation on the Risk of Workplace Accidents: Quebec, 1983-87

This paper is a first effort to investigate the overall effectiveness of policies adopted by a Canadian board dealing with occupational safety and health (OSH) in improving workplace health and safety. More specifically, considering all the most important aspects of government intervention in OSH (accident prevention, experience rating and compensation), the paper analyzes the performance of the Quebec OSH board in reducing the frequency and the severity of workplace accidents during the period 1983-87. The results show that, at best, certain measures adopted by the Quebec OSH board led to a minor reduction in the frequency of accidents during the period under study.