The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has partly pulled back on its controversial requirement that certain employers electronically file injury and illness data with OSHA. Last week, OSHA announced that employers with 250 or more employees no longer need to electronically submit information from their OSHA 300 forms (the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and their OSHA 301 forms (the Injury and Illness Incident Report).
According to OSHA, eliminating this requirement will avoid the risk that potentially sensitive personal information might be publically disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.
What has not changed is the requirement that information from OSHA 300A forms (the Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) be submitted in electronic form. The deadline for electronically submitting this data is March 2, 2019. In addition, 300 and 301 forms must still be maintained at the workplace, and OSHA says that it will continue to obtain those forms as needed through inspections and enforcement actions. OSHA also says that it will continue to use “information from severe injury reports that helps target areas of concern” for enforcement and compliance purposes.
