The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) delaying the reporting deadline, from July 1, 2017 to December 1, 2017, of a new regulation requiring employers to electronically submit injury and illness information on OSHA Form 300A, the “Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.” The agency has also expressed its intent to “reconsider, revise or remove” other provisions of the rule.
Finalized by the prior administration in May 2016, the rule, among other things, requires covered employers to submit injury and illness information to OSHA electronically to allow the agency to post establishment-specific data online for public view. Other portions of the rule expand employee protections against retaliation for reporting workplace injuries and illnesses, and allow OSHA to prosecute an employer for unlawful retaliation without first receiving an employee complaint. The rule targets workplace safety rules, post-accident drug testing, and safety incentive programs for particular scrutiny.
The rule has since been challenged in two lawsuits filed by employers and employer organizations. In its June 28 Federal Register notice, as well as in its response to the lawsuits, OSHA has now stated that it is proposing to delay the electronic reporting requirements in order to give the Trump Administration time to review them, with an expressed intent to overhaul and perhaps even scrap the entire rule.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.