Public Citizen Sues OSHA Over Injury Reporting Records

The watchdog group Public Citizen has sued the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) over OSHA's Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illness rule. According to Public Citizen, the organizations have denied its requests, which is a violation of its own rule.

Public Citizen vs OSHA

Public Citizen initially filed the complaint on January 19, 2018, in which it said that several requests for injury and illness reporting data for the months of October and November were denied. The watchdog group says the requests were made for research purposes. However, OSHA allegedly denied the requests, stating that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) didn't apply to the requests because they would reveal OSHA's techniques for enforcement. 

OSHA's Response

Under the FOIA, public entities can request data and documents from government agencies, unless the requested information is specifically excluded from the legislation. In this case, however, OSHA denied Public Citizen's request for the workplace injury and illness data. In response to Public Citizen's request, OSHA issued the following statement:

"Disclosure of the data before and while it is being used to select establishments for inspection would in turn disclose OSHA’s techniques for law enforcement investigations. Thus, OSHA has determined the data submitted under the electronic reporting requirements are exempt from disclosure while they are being used for enforcement targeting purposes.”

Public Citizen sought the data to conduct research regarding workplace safety. In its appeal, the watchdog group argued that injury and illness data is not exempt from FOIA because the data was not created for law enforcement purposes, nor would releasing the data interfere with law enforcement investigations.

What's Next

So, what's next for this case? OSHA says its looking to revise its Improved Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule to provide more thorough data than the existing 300A summary. The government-run organization says it will also seek public comments on these revisions.

Collecting data on workplace injuries and illnesses is essential to creating a safe workplace. Without this data, safety professionals and employers alike won't know the full extent of risks in the modern-day workplace. OSHA requires all employers to report work-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities in a timer manner. And using this data, they can create and enforce rules to protect workers from safety hazards. As revealed in this latest case, however, it's not always easy for public organizations to access this data.