OSHA Proposes to Roll Back Electronic Reporting Rule

Author: Robert S. Teachout, XpertHR Legal Editor

August 6, 2018

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to remove provisions of the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" rule. The agency said that the changes are meant to protect employees' personally identifiable information or data that could be re-identified with a particular individual. Observers expected these changes following OSHA's announcement in the 2017 regulatory agenda that it would review the Obama-era rule.

If finalized, the proposed rule would eliminate the requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees that currently are required to maintain injury and illness records to submit workplace injury and illness information from OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) using the agency's Injury Tracking Application (ITA). Only summary information from OSHA Form 300a (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) would have to be submitted electronically.

Under the current rule, the deadline for submitting of 2017 information from OSHA Forms 300 and 301 electronically was July 1, 2018; in subsequent years, the deadline is March 2. However, OSHA has stated that it is not currently accepting Form 300 or 301 data and will not enforce the deadlines for submitting these forms without further notice during the rulemaking process. Form 300A data for 2017 are being accepted through the electronic portal, but submissions after July 1, 2018, will be marked late.