OSHA Delays Electronic Record-Keeping Rule

The Occupational Safety Health and Administration (OSHA) will delay the effective compliance date for an upcoming rule regarding the electronic reporting of work-related injuries and illnesses.

OSHA has originally planned for a July 1 compliance date. The new rule will require employers to submit reports about injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace electronically, using the 2016 Form 300A. It will affect all companies and businesses with 250 or more employees, as well as smaller companies and businesses with fewer than 250 employees in certain high-risk industries.

The purpose of this rule is to help OSHA collect data on work-related accidents. By reporting work-related injuries and illnesses, OSHA officials can better determine which workplaces have the greatest risk to workers' health. And using this information, they can make changes to better protect workers from injury and illness.

Of course, having employers report work-related injuries electronically offers several key benefits of its own. All reports submitted to OSHA electronically are tracked in real-time. This means OSHA doesn't have to wait to receive a report in the mail. By receiving reports more quickly, OSHA can make the necessary changes to improve the working conditions for American workers.

However, there's still a level of uncertainty about when the new electronic reporting rule will take effect. In an email sent out to stakeholders, OSHA did not mention when the rule till take effect. Safety experts believe this is simply a delay, but there's still no word on when it will pass. 

So, what caused OSHA to delay its electronic reporting rule? Some experts believe the problem is attributed to a lack of officials in the administration. Currently, there's no secretary of labor in office, nor is there an assistant of labor for OSHA. Until these positions are filled, we'll probably see more delays such as these.

"Sixteen years’ worth of that data is on the Web right now, but no one complains about it,” said former OSHA director David Michaels. “We know by making injury rates public some employers will work to prevent injuries because they want to be seen as safe employers and they want be seen as good employers.”

What do you think of OSHA's decision to postpone its electronic reporting rule?