OSHA's New Record-Taking Rule Now in Effect

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) new record-taking rule is now in effect.

Last May, OSHA announced that it was revising a safety rule used for reporting workplace injuries and illnesses. Known as the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illness" rule, it governs the way in which workers report injuries and illness that occur in the workplace. The newly revised rule specifically contains two notable provisions. First and foremost, the new rule requires employers to submit injury and illness reports electronically as opposed to traditional methods (e.g. phone, paper/snail mail, etc.). Secondly, it requires employers to inform workers of their rights to report injuries and illnesses without the undue fear of retaliation by their respective employer.

It's not uncommon for employers to demote, fire or otherwise punish workers for reporting injuries, illnesses and associated hazards in the workplace. There have been countless cases of workers being severely punished for reporting such incidents. When a worker is punished for reporting an injury or illness, it discourages other workers from reporting in the future. As such, hazards often go unfixed, resulting in even more work-related injuries and illness. This, however, is something that OSHA hopes to prevent with its new reporting rule.

Of course, OSHA's new record-taking rule was originally planned to take effect last year. A federal district court in Texas, however, issued an order in which it halted OSHA's enforcement efforts until December 2016. Following this order was an additional petition, which the court ultimately denied. Long story short, 2017 marks the beginning of when OSHA's new record-taking rule begins begun to take effect.

Under OSHA's old record-taking rule, employers were not required to submit reports to OSHA unless they received a letter from OSHA requesting that they do so. Under the new rule, certain employers must report work-related injuries and illnesses electronically, using OSHA's secure website. Officials hope this will streamline the otherwise time-consuming and tedious process of reporting injuries and illnesses. Requiring employers to submit reports electronically should free up time and resources, facilitating this process.

It's also important to note that several other requirements will be gradually phased in to the rule over the next two years. Companies with 250 or more employees, for instance, must submit reports electronically from their Form 300A by July 1, 2017, and they must submit information from all OSHA forms by July 1, 2018.