AGC Responds to OSHA's Attempt to Overrule Court Decision

On Oct. 28, 2015, AGC submitted comments as part of the Coalition for Workplace Safety in response to the Occupation Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) "Clarification of an Employers Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain Accurate Records of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" proposed rule. This rule would revise the recordkeeping regulation to allow the agency to cite for inaccuracies on an employer’s OSHA 300 Log.

The proposal was put forward in response to the 2012 court decision which held that OSHA could not issue a citation for a recordkeeping violation after the six-month statute of limitations expressly included in the Occupational Safety & Health Act. OSHA maintains that they could issue a citation during the entire 5-year period during which employers are required to keep these records. The comments cite the lack of legal authority within the agency to essentially revise the Act through rulemaking as well as the absence of any economic analysis that takes the continuing obligation into consideration.  Ultimately, the comments request that OSHA withdraw this rulemaking.

For more information, please contact Jim Young at youngj@agc.org or Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.