OSHA Hammers Down on Injury Reporting Rule

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its final rule on injury reporting on May 11. Among other things, the new rule requires some employers (not all) to submit information about work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses through an online portal. OSHA believes this new change will facilitate the process of reporting injuries, allowing for better and more accurate data.

The new rule revised OSHA's existing requirements for recordkeeping. When the new rule takes effect, some employers will be required under federal law to submit information about work-related injuries, illness and fatalities electronically, which OSHA will then publish to its website. 

So, whom does this new rule affect? Companies with 250 or more employees that are currently required to keep reports on worker injuries and illnesses must use the new electronic reporting method found via the OSHA 300 Logs, 300A Summaries, and the 301 Injury and Illness Incident Reports. The good news is that OSHA is slowly phasing in this requirement, meaning only the 300A Summaries must be submitted by July 1, 2017.

But don't assume you are off the hook just because your company has fewer than 250 employees. Companies with 20 to 249 employees that operate in one of 67 different industries -- industries with a high rate of injury and illness -- will also be required to use OSHA's new electronic reporting portal. Furthermore, employers must submit information from the 2016 OSHA 300A Summaries by July 1, 2017.

"Our new rule will 'nudge' employers to prevent work injuries to show investors, job seekers, customers and the public they operate safe and well-managed facilities. Access to injury data will also help OSHA better target compliance assistance and enforcement resources, and enable 'big data' researchers to apply their skills to making workplaces safe," said OSHA assistant secretary of labor Dr. David Michaels.

The new rule has other purposes, as well, including enhanced protection for workers who report injuries and illnesses. It's not uncommon for employers to demote, dire or otherwise retaliate against workers who report injuries and illnesses. OSHA has acknowledged this problem, however, including protection from such retaliation in its new electronic reporting rule. The file rule requires employers to tell their employees and workers about their rights under federal law to report such injuries and illnesses without fear of retaliation. It also clarifies the current requirement that an employer's procedure for reporting injuries and illnesses must be reasonable, without discouraging workers from making such reports.

You can learn more about OSHA's final rule on electronic recordkeeping by visiting https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/finalrule/index.html.