WASHINGTON STATES LATE NIGHT RETAIL WORKER CRIME PROTECTION REGULATION - RELATIONSHIPS WITH EMPLOYER PRACTICES

Washington's late night retail worker crime protection regulation, enf orced by the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA ) program, was intended to prevent injuries by deterring violent crime s, We investigated whether the regulation was associated with business es' violence prevention activities. We surveyed 1,516 employers at hig h risk of robbery, including gas stations, groceries, hotels, restaura nts, and taverns, in 1995 to determine whether they had violence preve ntion training programs for their employees (a requirement of the stan dard). Awareness of the regulation was low (4.4%). Employers covered b y the regulation were more likely to have programs (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.4), as were those aware of a regulation (OR = 3.4), State OSHA plan contact (an inspection or consultation) was also associated with havin g a program (OR = 1.9). Despite low awareness of the standard, results suggested that regulatory efforts to protect high-risk employees were associated with employers' robbery and crime prevention activities.