Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Graduate
individual
What campus are you from?
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Graduate Student
Lead Presenter's Name
Acuna Gonzalez Santiago
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr. Yanbing Chen
Abstract
Section 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) empowers OSHA to conduct inspections and enforce standards prescribed in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations; however, limited literature and lack of descriptive statistics exist regarding oversight and inspection patterns across Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Florida. Assessing these patterns is paramount for aiding higher education stakeholders in evaluating their hazard identification and control techniques. This descriptive cross-sectional study examined OSHA's inspection database — January 1, 2015 to October 20, 2025 — indexed by NAICS code 611310, analyzing all 32 four-year non-profit HEI with at least 1,000 students in Florida found using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Descriptive statistics, percentile analysis, Z-score standardization, and outlier detection characterized inspection patterns. The distribution exhibited positive skew (skewness = 1.68), with 75% of institutions receiving no inspections over the decade (M = 0.5, 95% CI [0.16, 0.84], Mdn = 0, SD = 0.95). Percentile analysis revealed that 90% of institutions received fewer than two inspections, with a coefficient of variation of 190% indicating substantial heterogeneity. Six institutions (18.75%) were identified as moderate statistical outliers (Z > 1.5), with inspection counts of two and three representing the 89th and 98th percentiles respectively, while two institutions exceeded 2.5 SD above the mean (Z = 2.63), representing extreme outliers. Boxplot analysis revealed two distinct clusters at zero inspections and between two and three inspections. These findings demonstrate a dichotomy: the majority of Florida HEI seldom experienced OSHA in situ inspections while a small subset received repeated inspections during the same period, suggesting differential targeting patterns driven by underlying variables that warrant further investigation into qualitative and quantitative institutional factors that may significantly influence inspection frequency.
Did this research project receive funding support from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
No
Included in
OSHA’s Knocking! A Descriptive Cross-sectional Analysis of Inspections at Private Universities in Florida.
Section 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) empowers OSHA to conduct inspections and enforce standards prescribed in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations; however, limited literature and lack of descriptive statistics exist regarding oversight and inspection patterns across Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Florida. Assessing these patterns is paramount for aiding higher education stakeholders in evaluating their hazard identification and control techniques. This descriptive cross-sectional study examined OSHA's inspection database — January 1, 2015 to October 20, 2025 — indexed by NAICS code 611310, analyzing all 32 four-year non-profit HEI with at least 1,000 students in Florida found using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Descriptive statistics, percentile analysis, Z-score standardization, and outlier detection characterized inspection patterns. The distribution exhibited positive skew (skewness = 1.68), with 75% of institutions receiving no inspections over the decade (M = 0.5, 95% CI [0.16, 0.84], Mdn = 0, SD = 0.95). Percentile analysis revealed that 90% of institutions received fewer than two inspections, with a coefficient of variation of 190% indicating substantial heterogeneity. Six institutions (18.75%) were identified as moderate statistical outliers (Z > 1.5), with inspection counts of two and three representing the 89th and 98th percentiles respectively, while two institutions exceeded 2.5 SD above the mean (Z = 2.63), representing extreme outliers. Boxplot analysis revealed two distinct clusters at zero inspections and between two and three inspections. These findings demonstrate a dichotomy: the majority of Florida HEI seldom experienced OSHA in situ inspections while a small subset received repeated inspections during the same period, suggesting differential targeting patterns driven by underlying variables that warrant further investigation into qualitative and quantitative institutional factors that may significantly influence inspection frequency.