OSHA Electronic Recordkeeping Rule Came Out Today, May 11th

The White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed its analysis of the recordkeeping rule on April 29, so we have been waiting with baited breath.

Here it is:

As part of our efforts to keep OSHA’s cooperative program participants informed of OSHA’s activities, I wanted to let you know that OSHA today issued a final rule to modernize injury data collection to better inform workers, employers, the public, and OSHA about workplace hazards. Making this information publicly available will improve OSHA’s ability to target its compliance assistance and enforcement programs, and provide resources to employers who want to improve their safety and health programs. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on Thursday May 12.

Under the new rule, all establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation must electronically submit to OSHA injury and illness information from OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301. Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain industries must electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A only. To ensure that the injury data on OSHA logs are accurate and complete, the final rule also promotes an employee’s right to report injuries and illnesses without fear of retaliation, and clarifies that an employer’s procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and must not discourage employees from reporting. The new requirements take effect August 10, 2016, with data submissions phased in beginning in 2017. These requirements do not add to or change an employer’s obligation to complete and retain injury and illness records under the injury and illness recording and reporting regulation.

For more information, see the OSHA’s Web page, which includes a fact sheet, FAQs about the new rule, and a link to the press release announcing the new rule. OSHA will also conduct a stakeholder call this afternoon to review and answer questions about the rule – see the attached invitation.

I hope you will share this information with others in your organization, including workers and downstream customers, as part of our efforts together through OSHA’s cooperative programs. Thank you.

Doug Kalinowski
Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs

Howard