OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping UPDATE

We wanted to share this cogent update sent by Amanda Wood at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) regarding the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" Rule, 81 F.R. 29624 (May 12, 2016). As detailed in NAM's announcement below, OSHA announced it has extended the 300A Log submission deadline from December 1, 2017, to December 15, 2017. The extension was officially published in the federal register on Friday, November 24: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-11-24/pdf/2017-25392.pdf

As a reminder, here is what the Rule requires by December 15: 

• All covered establishments must electronically submit information from the 2016 OSHA Form 300A to OSHA on or before December 15, 2017.
• Covered establishments include:
  • Establishments with 250 or more employees at any time during the year in covered industries.
  • Establishments with 20-249 employees at any time during the calendar year in covered "high hazard" industries.
• Employers must use OSHA's Injury Tracking Application (ITA) to submit this data: https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/ita/.

According to OSHA, the following OSHA-approved State Plans have not yet adopted the requirement to submit injury and illness reports electronically, and therefore, establishments in these states are not currently required to submit their data through ITA: California, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

For more detailed information regarding the final rule and other upcoming compliance deadlines, please see our recent OSHA 30/30 presentation on the Improve Tracking Rule: https://www.khlaw.com/OSHA-3030-October-25-2017.

Immediately below is the update sent by NAM regarding the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" Rule.

Today, OSHA announced it will extend the 300A Log submission from December 1 to December 15. The extension will be officially published in the federal register on Friday, November 24, but can be found here.

In the 15-page extension, the agency states "OSHA disagrees that a more substantial delay is needed. OSHA notes that the collection of 2016 Form 300A is currently underway... OSHA intends to issue a separate proposal to reconsider, revise, or remove other provisions of the prior final rule and to seek comment on those provisions in that separate proposal."  Additionally, "OSHA believes that the four months from the launch date of August 1, 2017, to the new delayed deadline of December 15, 2017, provide ample time for employers to submit their 2016 data and for the agency to conduct additional outreach to employers to inform them of their obligations."

While there is not any further change to the underlying rule requirements or the requirements in the preamble, there is an extension in which to file the 300A logs.  We anticipate a notice of proposed rulemaking early in 2018 and will bring you more information as we receive it.