OSHA Delays Online Injury Reporting Rule
On May 17, OSHA announced that employers will not have to electronically file injury and illness information by July 1, as the rule had stated. As of the date of this announcement, OSHA still had not opened the online portal for employers to file their injury data from the previous calendar year.
OSHA did not offer a reason for the postponement and has delayed other standards this year including a standard on beryllium and a standard on silica dust which our Manager of Industrial Hygiene, Luis Pieretti, has written about.
The rule is currently being challenged in federal court by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among others. Several unions and worker advocacy groups, including the AFL-CIO and the American Public Health Association, have asked to intervene and defend the rule, as reported by Bruce Rolfsen, Occupational Safety & Health Reporter, Bloomberg BNA.
For more information on all aspects of OSHA injury reporting and regular updates to the new electronic submission rule, check out OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping webpage. MEMIC policyholders can view in the Safety Director a webinar I presented earlier this year titled OSHA & Healthcare Update 2017 which features information on OSHA’s new Online Injury Reporting Rule. You can also review the details of the proposed rule on OSHA’s site.
