In a recent letter sent to those employers, Assistant Labor Secretary Edwin G. Foulke Jr. explained that the notification was intended “to encourage employers to take action now to reduce rates and improve safety and health conditions in their workplaces,” OSHA said in a statement. OSHA offers free assistance programs to help employers better protect their workers’ health and safety.

The federal agency identified businesses with the nation’s highest rates of workplace injuries and illnesses through employer-reported data from a 2007 survey of 80,000 work sites.

The employers receiving the notifications had work sites that experienced 5.4 or more injuries per 100 full-time employees resulting in lost workdays, restricted work activity or job transfers. The average U.S. workplace had 2.3 such occurrences for every 100 employees.

Filed by Mark A. Hofmann of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.