Skip to Main Content
Services Talent Knowledge
Site Search
Menu

Alert

Our attorneys stay on top of changes in legislation, agency regulations, case law, and industry trends—then craft timely legal alerts to keep clients up to date on legal developments important to their business.

May 20, 2016

OSHA Revises Injury Recording and Reporting Rule

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") issued a final rule revising regulations for the reporting and recordkeeping of workplace injuries.

Currently, employers with 10 or more employees whose establishments are not classified as a partially exempt industry, are required to record work-related injuries and illnesses using the Form 300, 300A and 301. (Partially exempt industries include establishments in specific low hazard retail, service, finance, insurance or real estate industries.) In addition, employers which are required to keep the Form 300, must post the Form 300A, in the workplace every year. These requirements remain in effect.

Under the new final rule, which was finalized last week, in addition to reporting, employers with 250 or more employees, in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation, must now electronically submit the injury and illness information collected for the Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries), Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) to OSHA. Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain hazardous industries must electronically submit information from Form 300A only.

OSHA intends to analyze this data to "improve OSHA's ability to identify, target, and remove safety and health hazards" and make the data public per President Obama's Open Government Initiative. After removing the personally identifiable information, OSHA will post the employer specific illness and injury information on its website thereby creating "the largest publicly available data set on work injuries and illnesses."

In an attempt to justify what some employers are already referring to as "public shaming," OSHA explained: "Just as public disclosure of their kitchens' sanitary conditions encourages restaurant owners to improve food safety, OSHA expects that public disclosure of work injury data will encourage employers to increase their efforts to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses."

The new electronic reporting requirements will be phased in over two years. Employers with 250 or more employees must submit information from their 2016 Form 300A by July 1, 2017 and information from all 2017 forms (300A, 300, and 301) by July 1, 2018. Employers with 20 to 249 employees in certain high-risk industries must submit information from their 2016 Form 300A by July 1, 2017, and their 2017 Form 300A by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter, all employers must submit the information by March 2.

Significantly, the new rule also includes three provisions aimed at encouraging employees to come forward and report injuries and illness without fear of reprisal:

  1. Employers must inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation.
  2. An employer's procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and must not deter or discourage employees from reporting.
  3. An employer may not retaliate against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses.

Under the current regulations, OSHA acts after an employee files a complaint. Under the new rule, however, OSHA not only has the authority to issue citations to an employer for retaliation even if the employee did not file a complaint, but also if OSHA determines the employer has a program that it finds deters or discourages reporting through the threat of retaliation. In view of this, and the effective date of August 10, 2016, employers should promptly conduct reviews of their workplace safety policies to make sure they do not conflict with the rule's prohibitions on reporting safety incidents.


If you have any questions about compliance with the new regulation, or you are unsure how they will impact your business,  please contact the Labor & Employment attorney at Barclay Damon with whom you normally work or any attorney in our Labor & Employment Practice Area.

Subscribe

Click here to sign up for alerts, blog posts, and firm news.

Featured Media

Alerts

USFWS Issues Final Guidance on Northern Long-Eared Bat and Tricolored Bat

Alerts

IRS Guidance Excludes VA Service-Connected Disability Benefits From Certain Income Determinations for Qualified Residential Rental Projects

Alerts

Second Department: Objective Evidence Required to Establish Trivial Defect Defense

Alerts

NYS Department of Health Issues Consumer Protection Guidance on Payments for Health Care Services

Alerts

Stay Away From the Debtor? An Overview of the Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy

Alerts

Second Department: Defendants Are Entitled to Collateral Source Hearing for "To-Be Obtained" Insurance Coverage Under the ACA

This site uses cookies to give you the best experience possible on our site and in some cases direct advertisements to you based upon your use of our site.

By clicking [I agree], you are agreeing to our use of cookies. For information on what cookies we use and how to manage our use of cookies, please visit our Privacy Statement.

I AgreeOpt-Out