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May 2007, Vol 97, No. 5 | American Journal of Public Health 819-824
© 2007 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.088021

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Environmental Health Practice: Statistically Based Performance Measurement

Richard T. Enander, PhD, Ronald N. Gagnon, MBA, R. Choudary Hanumara, PhD, Eugene Park, PhD, Thomas Armstrong, BS and David M. Gute, PhD, MPH

Richard T. Enander, Ronald N. Gagnon, and Thomas Armstrong, are with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Office of Technical and Customer Assistance, Providence, RI. R. Choudary Hanumara is with the Department of Computer Science and Statistics, University of Rhode Island, Providence. Eugene Park is with the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Providence. David M. Gute is with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Mass.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Richard T. Enander, PhD, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Office of Technical and Customer Assistance, 235 Promenade St, Providence, RI 02908 (e-mail: richard.enander{at}dem.ri.gov).

Objectives. 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.




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AJPH Online, 29 May 2007 [Full text]

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