OSHA’s just-released annual inspection plan for high-hazard workplaces has two new wrinkles in it.

The plan under the Site-Specific Targeting* (SST) 2011 program, which is intended to help the agency focus its resources on workplaces with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses, will this year include smaller companies and a self-evaluation mechanism.

Establishments are randomly selected for inspection under the SST program from a list of 3,700 manufacturing, non-manufacturing and nursing and personal care facilities that reported above-average work-related injury and illness rates.

In 2010, only those establishments in the selected industries with 40 or more employees were subject to inspections under the SST plan; this year, that number has been reduced to 20 or more. An evaluation study measuring the program's impact on future compliance with OSHA standards has also been introduced for the 2011 program.