OSHA Announces Injury/Illness Electronic Website Release

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), following its notice in late June delaying its rule requiring businesses to electronically report injury and illnesses until December 1, 2017, announced that the Web site necessary to be compliant with the delayed rule will be available August 1, 2017. However, OSHA has indicated that the Web site to be used for the electronic reporting will be accessible starting August 1, 2017. As background, the injury/illness electronic tracking rule, finalized on May 12, 2016, imposes new requirements on companies filling out and posting their 300A forms at their respective workplaces. The new rule, known as the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" rule, requires companies establish new anti-retaliation programs and applies to company facilities with 20-249 employees to originally submit their OSHA 2016 Form 300A by July 1, 2017 and their 2017 Form 300A by July 1, 2018. Then beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter the information would be submitted electronically by March 2 of each year.

 

In addition to announcing the Web site and delay, OSHA also indicated that it will subsequently request comments from stakeholders about a "proposal to reconsider, revise, or remove other provisions of the prior final rule." The timing of the subsequent notice is unknown, however NRMCA welcomes these developments, has submitted comments supporting the rule’s delay and plans to submit comments in support of a full repeal of the rule.