Washington State's late night retail worker crime protection regulation. Relationships with employer practices

Washington's late night retail worker crime protection regulation, enforced by the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program, was intended to prevent injuries by deterring violent crimes. We investigated whether the regulation was associated with businesses' violence prevention activities. We surveyed 1,516 employers at high risk of robbery, including gas stations, groceries, hotels, restaurants, and taverns, in 1995 to determine whether they had violence prevention training programs for their employees (a requirement of the standard). Awareness of the regulation was low (4.4%). Employers covered by 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 having 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.