Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it intends to delay for an unknown period of time the initial compliance deadline for electronic submission of injury and illness recordkeeping forms.
Under the Electronic Recordkeeping Rule adopted in 2016 by federal OSHA and some state plan states, like North Carolina, employers had a phased in compliance deadline for electronic submission of recordkeeping forms based on establishment size and industry.[1] For 2017, employers with establishments with 250 or more employees, and establishments with less than 250 employees but 20 or more in certain high-risk industries, were required to submit electronically their 2016 Form 300A by July 1, 2017.
The Electronic Recordkeeping Rule also included new anti-retaliation provisions that the Obama administration interpreted as restricting post-accident drug testing and safety incentive plans; there is no new information on the status of those provisions.
This newly announced delay in compliance is not a surprise because the website that OSHA intends to use for the submission of the forms reportedly is not yet available. Because the new rule is controversial, it also is being challenged in court.
Employers can expect additional information about the status of the ElectronicRecordkeeping Rule once the Trump administration names its Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. We will provide updates as information becomes available.
[1] The 22 states that manage their own OSHA plans, including North and South Carolina, must adopt requirements that are substantially the same as those in the federal rule, but South Carolina has not yet done so.
