WASHINGTON (AP) — While businesses bemoan the cost of regulations, a new study suggests that government enforcement of workplace health and safety rules can save lives without sapping a company's bottom line.

The findings come from a decade-long look at hundreds of California work sites subject to random safety inspections. Researchers found that 9.4 percent of those companies reduced their injury claims with no discernible impact on profits.

Better yet, the same companies saved an average of 26 percent on workers' compensation costs in the four years following an inspection when compared with similar firms that were not randomly inspected.

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