[co-author: Tommy Rogers]
Beginning in 2024, more than 52,000 employers must start complying with a new OSHA rule that requires employers with 100 or more employees in certain “high hazard” industries to electronically submit annual reports to OSHA of every significant workplace injury/illness incident at the work site.
What’s New?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) set forth new recordkeeping requirements in its July 2023 final rule. The rule, among other things, mandates publication of 2023 workplace injury data that certain employers must submit to OSHA by March 2, 2024.
This requirement applies to employers that have more than 100 employees in various “high hazard” industries. This includes agriculture, manufacturing, grocers, construction, transportation, warehousing and storage, and retail. The size criterion of 100 or more employees is determined by the number of employees at an “establishment” during the previous calendar year. An establishment is defined as “a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.”
The regulation will require employers to electronically submit information from their OSHA Forms 300 and 301 to OSHA once per year. As a reminder, the Form 300 refers to the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, while the Form 301 refers to the Injury and Illness Incident Report.
OSHA has created a secure website for the electronic reporting system, the Injury Tracking Application (ITA).
Notably, OSHA intends to publish data from employers’ submissions on a public website after removing any information that could identify individual employees. However, the agency has yet to specify precisely what information it plans to publish.
What Should an Employer Do?
The rule took effect on January 1, 2024 and the submission deadline for 2023 workplace injury data is March 2, 2024.
You should begin now to assess your reportable injuries and illnesses for 2023 in advance of the March 2 submission deadline. OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application website (linked above) provides helpful guidance for complying with the new rule.
You should continue to monitor any forthcoming OSHA guidance or updates on the new rule. With the prospect of workplace injury and illness reports becoming public record in 2024, now is also a good time to revisit your company’s overall workplace safety program to minimize workplace injuries/illnesses and thereby reduce reportable injuries and illnesses.
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