Alert
Alert
10.24.23
In July 2023, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized its “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” rule, which requires establishments with 100 or more employees in certain designated high-hazard industries (including agricultural, food production, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, transportation, medical and entertainment) to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) once a year. Specifically, employers must submit detailed information about each recordable injury and illness, including the date, physical location and severity of the injury or illness; details about the worker who was injured; and details about how the injury or illness occurred. The rule is effective on January 1, 2024, and annual reporting is due March 2, 2024, through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA).
The rule does not change OSHA’s existing requirements for establishments with 20 to 249 employees in certain industries to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A Annual Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, and establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A Annual Summary. (See 29 C.F.R. 1904.41.) Both the new and existing requirements apply to establishments covered by Federal OSHA, as well as establishments covered by State Plans (e.g., California).
Other changes made by the rule include the following:
According to OSHA, the new requirement for establishments with 100 or more employees in certain designated high-hazard industries will apply to less than one percent of establishments in the nation but will capture almost 30 percent of all reportable occupational injuries and illnesses. OSHA claims that access to the submitted data will help it identify establishments with specific hazards, interact with these establishments via enforcement and/or outreach, address and abate the hazards, improve worker safety and health and better analyze injury trends. OSHA also claims employers, employees, potential employees, employee representatives, customers, potential customers and the general public can make more informed decisions about workplace safety and health at a given establishment by having access to the same data.
Of potential concern to employers is OSHA’s intent to post some of the collected data (exclusive of personally identifying information) on a public website. For example, unions and plaintiffs’ lawyers would have access to injury and illness information. Businesses with numerous and/or significant injuries and illnesses could also be targeted by OSHA for inspections and violations.
In preparation for next year’s new electronic recordkeeping requirements, employers should review and update their current injury and illness recordkeeping procedures, assess any changes to the number of employees at each establishment, and ensure they are set up to submit though ITA.
For more information or assistance with workplace safety compliance and litigation, please reach out to your regular Pillsbury contact or the authors of this alert.