Environmental health practice: statistically based performance measurement.
OBJECTIVE
State environmental and health protection agencies have traditionally relied on a facility-by-facility inspection-enforcement paradigm to achieve compliance with government regulations. We evaluated the effectiveness of a new approach that uses a self-certification random sampling design.


METHODS
Comprehensive environmental and occupational health data from a 3-year statewide industry self-certification initiative were collected from representative automotive refinishing facilities located in Rhode Island. Statistical comparisons between baseline and postintervention data facilitated a quantitative evaluation of statewide performance.


RESULTS
The analysis of field data collected from 82 randomly selected automotive refinishing facilities showed statistically significant improvements (P<.05, Fisher exact test) in 4 major performance categories: occupational health and safety, air pollution control, hazardous waste management, and wastewater discharge. Statistical significance was also shown when a modified Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons was performed.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the new self-certification approach to environmental and worker protection is effective and can be used as an adjunct to further enhance state and federal enforcement programs.
Enander
Richard T
RT
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Office of Technical and Customer Assistance, Providence, RI 02908, USA. richard.enander@dem.ri.gov
Gagnon
Ronald N
RN
Hanumara
R Choudary
RC
Park
Eugene
E
Armstrong
Thomas
T
Gute
David M
DM
D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D001336:Automobiles; D002568:Certification; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000592:standards*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry / Q000592:standards*; D012237:Rhode Island; D012449:Safety; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid
D006256:Hazardous Waste