ILMA Compoundings September 2016 - 34

RULES & REGS

New OSHA Electronic
Reporting and
Retaliation Rules
Daniel T. Bryant

he Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) published its final rule to "Improve Tracking
of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" on May 17, 2016,
and most of the rule's provisions become operative on Jan.
1, 2017. OSHA estimates that the rule will cost the private
sector $15 million per year to comply with the recordkeeping
requirements.
The rule has two major provisions. First, it requires electronic
submission of injury and illness data that will subsequently
be placed on OSHA's website for public review. Second, it
mandates that employers fully explain and promote employee
reporting of work-related injuries and illnesses, and that
employers may not retaliate against a reporting employee.
Further, it requires that employers not implement incentive
or drug-testing programs that could dissuade such employee
reporting.

Current Requirements and New Electronic
Submission Rules
Currently, employers are required to record each reportable
injury and illness on OSHA Form 300, the "Log of Work-Related
Injuries and Illnesses," and must prepare an incident report
on Form 301, the "Injury and Illness Incident Report." Finally,
employers must prepare form 300A, "Summary of WorkRelated Injuries and Illnesses," and post it within the facility from
Feb. 1 through April 30 of each year.
Generally, OSHA accesses those forms only if an on-site
inspection of the facility occurs. OSHA's most recent data from
2014 indicates that approximately 1 percent (83,000) of facilities
were inspected out of almost 8 million workplaces that are
subject to OSHA's jurisdiction.
Under the new rule, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2017, OSHA is
now requiring every workplace with 250 or more employees in
industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation to submit
information electronically from their 2016 Form 300A by July 1,
2017. Then, these employers are required to submit information
electronically from all 2017 forms - that is, Forms 300, 300A
and 301 - by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019, the information
must be submitted annually to OSHA by March 2.
Establishments with 20-249 employees in specified "highrisk industries" - identified by OSHA on a specific list and
including all employers in manufacturing industries - must
submit their Form 300A electronically by July 1 in 2017 and 2018.
The annual reporting shifts to March 2 beginning in 2019.
Because OSHA requires that the injury and illness information
be kept and submitted on an establishment basis, many
companies, including ILMA members, will have to submit
multiple reports each year to OSHA.
OSHA subsequently will post that data on www.osha.gov
for public review without any explanation of the facts and
circumstances of each particular case.

Vol. 66 No. 9 * 34 * September 2016 Compoundings

http://www.osha.gov

ILMA Compoundings September 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings September 2016