Proposed Rule on Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Regulation

WASHINGTON – On March 30^th, OSHA published a proposed rule to its occupational injury and illness recordkeeping regulation. The proposed amendment targets to improve the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses recordkeeping regulation, 29 CFR 1904.41.

The Proposed Rule

The proposed rule requires certain employers to submit injury and illness information to OSHA electronically and report the Annual Summary. Ultimately, the agency uses these reports to identify and respond to emerging hazards and makes aspects of the information publicly available.

In summary, the proposed rule would:

• Require establishments with 100 or more employees in specific high-hazard industries to electronically submit information from their OSHA Forms 300, 301, and 300A to OSHA once a year.
• Update the classification system used to determine the list of industries covered by the electronic submission requirement.
• Remove the current requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees not in a designated industry to electronically submit Form 300A to OSHA annually.
• LAstly, require establishments to include their company name when making electronic submissions to OSHA.

In the meantime, establishments with 20 or more employees in specific high-hazard industries would continue to submit Annual Summary via Form 300A to OSHA electronically.

The Benefits of the Amendments

After all, the proposed rule would support OSHA’s mission to protect workers, mitigate workplace hazards, and empower workers by increasing transparency in the workforce.

Additionally, OSHA believes that the electronic submission of establishment-specific and case-specific information will improve workplace safety and health by:

• Allowing OSHA to effectively identify workplaces where workers are at most significant risk from specific hazards. Thus, enabling the agency to target its compliance assistance and enforcement efforts accordingly.
• Improving the visibility of employers to compare their injury and illness data on hazards within the same industry.
• Enhancing the ability of stakeholders to make more informed decisions using recent establishment-specific, case-specific, and injury/illness information.
• Lastly, advancing the research related to occupational safety and health.

Comments Due Date and Submission Details

The public can submit comments online using Docket No. OSHA-2021-0006 on the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Refer to the Federal Register notice for more details, and the due date for comments submission is May 30th, 2022. All submissions must include the agency’s name and the docket number for this rulemaking (Docket No. OSHA-2021-0006). OSHA also cautions commenters about submitting private information that will be made available to the public online at https://www.regulations.gov without modification.

Key Takeaways

In summary, organizations are highly encouraged to have robust and comprehensive health and safety programs. These include scheduling routine safety training and inspections to prevent accidents and avoid fines, ensuring the highest level of workplace safety and motivation.

Read more from the original source.

Other Useful Resources

• OSHA’s definition of a recordable injury or illness.
• OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements.