Quotas for OSHA inspectors banned

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not set enforcement quotas for its inspectors. And a new law will make sure it never does.

In 1995, OSHA stopped using the total number of inspections as the agency's primary performance measurement. Up to that time, supervisors evaluated inspectors based on the number of citations they issued, penalties they assessed and inspections they conducted. Now, inspectors' performance measures include how well they promote voluntary compliance efforts and participate in partnerships to reduce workplace injuries.

Last week, the Senate gave its nod to a bill that officially bars OSHA from using enforcement quotas. The House passed the measure in March. The bill awaits the president's signature. President Clinton supports the bill because it "would reaffirm OSHA's current policy of not using citation and penalty quotas to assess employee performance," the administration said in a statement.

House and Senate Republicans pushed the bill as a guarantee that OSHA would not return to its old ways.

The IRS reform bill awaiting Senate approval would place similar restrictions on the IRS. Senate Finance Committee hearings over the last year highlighted abuses of taxpayers at the hands of IRS agents motivated by districtwide quotas for collections. Following the hearings, the IRS stopped ranking its districts by collection figures and stopped issuing revenue goals to field offices.