OSHA Proposes Record Keeping Rule

OSHA is proposing an amendment to their recordkeeping regulations to protect sensitive worker information from potential disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). They will be issuing a proposed rule in July of 2018 to revise the 2016 Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses final rule to remove the requirement for employers with 250 or more employees to submit data from their OSHA 300 Logs and OSHA 301 Incident Reports. These employers would still be required to electronically submit their 300-A Summary data to OSHA. OSHA will be soliciting comments on the costs and benefits of adding the Employer Identification Number (EIN) to the data collection as a way to streamline the injury and illness reporting process for employers. Including the EIN could make it easier to match data collected by OSHA to data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) The agenda item did not mention a reconsideration of the anti-retaliation provisions in the final rule, which prohibit employers from taking adverse action against employees who report a work-related injury or illness to their employer.