Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, OSHA announced another extension of the deadline for many employers to electronically report data from their 2016 OSHA 300A forms from this Friday, December 1st, to Friday, December 15th.
In the announcement, OSHA also said that “establishments” in OSHA-approved state-plans which have not yet adopted the new reporting rule – California, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Wyoming – are not required to report their data. Employers with establishments in other state-plan states should check the current status of their reporting requirements.
Many employers had hoped for more changes than a short extension of the deadline, including withdrawal of the electronic reporting requirement all together. More extensive changes may be in the works as OSHA announced it is reviewing the entire rule, including the controversial anti-retaliation provisions. It plans to address possible revisions sometime in 2018.
Affected employers should make plans to complete electronic filing of their 300A data by Friday, December 15th.
OSHA’s entire reporting rule will be discussed at Sherman & Howard’s Annual Occupational Safety and Health Update, Friday, December 1, 2017, in Westminster, CO. Registration and more information can be found here.