By Paul Ploumis
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the US Department of Labor has issued a final rule to revise its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation. The rule makes it mandatory for certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness data that they are already required to record on their onsite OSHA Injury and Illness forms. The new rule, intended to boost workplace safety, will take effect Jan 1, 2017.
According to Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, the new rulewill 'nudge' employers to prevent work injuries to show investors, job seekers, customers and the public they operate safe and well-managed facilities. The public disclosure of data will encourage employers to improve workplace safety, he added.
Previously, OSHA regulations require employers with more than 10 employees in most industries to keep records of occupational injuries and illnesses at their establishments. These employers are required to record each recordable employee injury and illness on an OSHA Form 300 or equivalent. In addition, they are required to prepare a supplementary OSHA Form 301 or equivalent that provides additional details about each case recorded on the OSHA Form 300. At the end of each year, employers are required to prepare a summary report of all injuries and illnesses on the OSHA Form 300A and post it in a visible location in the workplace.
The electronic submission requirements in the final rule do not add to or change any employer's obligation to complete and retain injury and illness records. The final rule also does not add to or change the recording criteria or definitions for these records.
The final rule amends the record keeping regulations, by adding requirements for electronic submission. Firstly, establishments with 250 or more employees are now required to submit information from Forms 300, 300A, and 301 to OSHA or OSHA's designee on an annual basis. Secondly, establishments with 20 or more employees, but fewer than 250 employees, are required to electronically submit information from Form 300A to OSHA or OSHA's designee on an annual basis. The last date for submission of 2016 data would be July 1, 2017. Also, the new rule makes it compulsory for employers to electronically submit information from recordkeeping forms to OSHA or OSHA's designee, upon notification.
Additionally, the final rule requires employers to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation. An employer’s procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and must not deter or discourage employees from reporting. An employer may not retaliate against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses.
To aid electronic submission of data, OSHA will provide a secure website, which will offer multiple options for submitting data. Users could do data submission by manually entering data into a webform. Alternatively, users would be provided an option to upload a CSV file to process single or multiple establishments at the same time. Also, users of automated recordkeeping systems would have provisions to transmit data electronically via an application programming interface.
