Posts Tagged ‘recordkeeping’

OSHA’s New Reporting Rule Raising Hackles

Wednesday, June 1st, 2016

OSHA recently released a final rule on injury reporting and electronic recordkeeping that is raising hackles in many quarters – if you aren’t aware of the rule, this post will get you up to speed and will present an overview of the controversy.

The rule requires that certain hazardous industries submit injury and illness data electronically, which will then be shared and publicly accessible online. In addition, the rule strengthens worker protections around reporting. Employers are obligated to inform employees of their reporting rights and must not deter or discourage injury reporting in any way, and may not retaliate against employees for reporting.

Here’s a copy of OSHA’s new rule, which was published on May 12, 2016. Here’s a brief summary excerpt:

OSHA is issuing a final rule to revise its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation. The final rule requires employers in certain industries to electronically submit to OSHA injury and illness data that employers are already required to keep under existing OSHA regulations. The frequency and content of these establishment – specific submissions is set out in the final rule and is dependent on the size and industry of the employer. OSHA intends to post the data from these submissions on a publicly accessible Web site. OSHA does not intend to post any information on the Web site that could be used to identify individual employees.

The final rule also amends OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation to update requirements on how employers inform employees to report work-related injuries and illnesses to their employer. The final rule requires employers to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation; clarifies the existing implicit requirement that an employer’s procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and not deter or discourage employees from reporting; and incorporates the existing statutory prohibition on retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses. The final rule also amends OSHA’s existing recordkeeping regulation to clarify the rights of employees and their representatives to access the injury and illness records.

Large employers (250+), unless exempt from reporting, are now required to submit data electronically. In addition, high hazard industries with 20-249 employees will also have electronic reporting obligations

Poster for informing employees of their rights

The electronic reporting requirements are in effect as of January 1, 2016. The employee notification and anti-retaliation provisions go into effect on August 10, 2016.

Proponents and opponents of the OSHA rule speak out

OSHA and labor proponents say that the new rule will modernize reporting and offer transparency that fosters safer workplaces.

Just as public disclosure of their kitchens’ sanitary conditions encourages restaurant owners to improve food safety, OSHA expects that public disclosure of work injury data will encourage employers to increase their efforts to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses.

“Since high injury rates are a sign of poor management, no employer wants to be seen publicly as operating a dangerous workplace,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Our new reporting requirements will ‘nudge’ employers to prevent worker injuries and illnesses to demonstrate to investors, job seekers, customers and the public that they operate safe and well-managed facilities. Access to injury data will also help OSHA better target our compliance assistance and enforcement resources at establishments where workers are at greatest risk, and enable ‘big data’ researchers to apply their skills to making workplaces safer.”

Most labor unions are proponents of the new rule: Teamsters Applaud New OSHA Rule to Modernize Worker Injury & Illness Report System

The new rule will go a long way in correcting a widespread problem that saw many large employers routinely withholding these reports from their own workers, in violation of OSHA’s current mandate. This will especially help the many workers in non-union companies to get this important information without fear of retaliation by their own supervisors. With this rule, OSHA will move employers into a modern, electronic reporting system to promote accurate and broad public understanding of the dangers in today’s workplaces.

Opponents say that the public posting of injury data constitutes a “public shaming” and that data may be misunderstood or exploited by competitors and other parties. In addition, employers say that the previous recordkeeping process allowed revisions to injury and illness records, a process that may be unavailable now once reported. Some opponents also raise concerns about employee privacy, although OSHA says reported data will not be identifiable by employee.

The following are some initial reports of opponent concerns.

The Hill: OSHA to publicly disclose workplace injuries online

But the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) accused the Labor Department of “publicly shaming” companies into compliance.

“This administration put a target on nearly every company and manufacturer in the United States,” NAM vice president Rosario Palmieri said in a statement.

“Manufacturers are supportive of regulations aimed at increasing transparency, and we pride ourselves on creating safe workplaces for the men and women who make things in America,” Palmieri said. “However, this regulation will lead to the unfair and unnecessary public shaming of these businesses. This is a misguided attempt at transparency that sacrifices employee and employer privacy.”

Business Insurance: RIMS sounds alarm on latest OSHA injury-reporting rules

Inaccurate safety ratings, reporting redundancies and cyber exposures will result from the new rule on electronic record-keeping of workplace injuries released by the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration that takes effect Jan. 1, 2017, the agency said in a statement.

OSHA’s new rule requiring the publishing of employee injuries can increase litigation against an organization and can also be used against an organization by industry competitors, RIMS said in the release.

The organization is also concerned about the ambiguity of the cause of a workplace injury potentially creating misconceptions about an organization’s workplace safety, the statement said.

RIMS also listed OSHA’s web-based reporting application as an issue because of its additional cyber exposures.

Safety + Health: Critics of OSHA recordkeeping rule air concerns at House hearing

Critics of OSHA’s recently released recordkeeping rule, which would make worker injury and illness data public, voiced their concerns during a May 25 hearing convened by the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

The National Law Review: OSHA Electronic Recordkeeping Rule Creates Significant Reporting Requirements, Potential Enforcement Risks

This article summarizes the new rule and offers compliance recommendations for employers. It also raises employer concerns:

The implications of OSHA’s new reporting requirements are significant, as the new rule creates a number of concerns and challenges due to the public disclosure of employer safety data. For one, the OSHA recordkeeping process has always allowed a continuing opportunity to revise injury and illness records with new changes to the reported event. But once the injury and illness data is initially reported and disclosed, it may be difficult for employers to revise this public information. Additionally, the data may be misinterpreted or misrepresented by the media or competitors. Further, employee privacy is a concern. Although OSHA states that it will use software to remove private employee information from the disclosures before posting, the effectiveness of this software remains to be seen. Finally, the cost and resources necessary to implement electronic data collection and maintenance will be significant. OSHA’s financial estimates likely ignore the time and effort required to bring an employer into compliance, especially ones without any electronic collection procedures currently in place.

Construction Equipment: New Electronic OSHA Reporting Requirements Raise Serious Concerns

Before, employers could only be cited by OSHA for not having a workplace illness/injury procedure in place. Now OSHA can cite an employer if the company’s procedure is not ‘reasonable’ or discourages employees from reporting.

Before, OSHA had to wait for an employee to file a whistleblower retaliation claim to investigate the company. Now, OSHA can cite and fine employers directly and demand abatement for alleged retaliation against employees who report workplace injuries and illnesses.

Before, employer reports of injury/illness events were in an open chronological format that allowed updates and changes to the report as needed. Now, because the electronic report will be made public at the initial filing, it may be difficult for employers to revise the report at a later date. This means the first filing will stay on the Internet as it was written and later updates may or may not be easily found. This can lead to either accidental or willful misinterpreted of the information by anyone who has an Internet connection.

We doubt we’ve heard the end of this story so stay tuned.

OSHA Recordables – test your knowledge, part 3

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

We’ve recently been challenging ourselves with OSHA recordable quizzes posted by the smart folks at the Advanced Safety and Health News Blog. We found them interesting enough that over the next few weeks, we will pose the scenarios / questions and you can test your knowledge. Click the headlines to go to the respective blog post and learn the answers.
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #10: injured on smoke break
Scenario: An employee reports to work. A few hours later, the employee goes outside for a “smoke break.” The employee slips on the ice and injures his back.
Question: Since the employee was not performing a task related to the employee’s work, the company has deemed this incident non-work related and therefore not recordable – right or wrong?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #11: injury during seizure
Scenario: You have a 48 year old male employee who reports to work on Wednesday morning and two hours into his work shift he experiences some sort of seizure and falls to the floor. During this event when the employee falls he strikes his head on a work table and receives a laceration on his head that requires six stitches. Further investigation determines the employee has epilepsy and a history of epileptic seizures. The doctor verifies that what this employee experienced was indeed an epileptic seizure. So you determined the event was due to a preexisting non-work related medical condition.
Question: Since the employee struck his head while at work performing work, does the geographical presumption make this event an OSHA recordable?

Recordkeeping Quiz 12: company sponsored meal

Scenario: To celebrate a safety milestone of achieving one million hours worked without an injury, your employer provides a lunch complete with fried chicken, barbequed ribs, hamburgers, and all the trimmings. A few hours later many employees start to exhibit signs of food poisoning. Seventy two of your employees get food poisoning so bad that they must miss the next day of work. Further investigation reveals they received the food poisoning from the potato salad provided by the caterer your company hired for the event.
Question: Do all seventy two of these cases go on your OSHA 300 log as recordable with at least one day away from work (DART case)?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz 13: counting time away from work
Scenario: An employee sustained a work-related ankle injury (sprain) and received medical treatment. The employee immediately returned to work with restrictions. The employee’s doctor has requested that the employee return for periodic office visits so that he can observe the patient’s improvement. The employee’s doctor states that on the days the employee has an appointment, the employee is “unable to work that date.”
Question: Are the days used by the employee to visit the doctor for follow-up to be considered days away from work?

OSHA Recordables – test your knowledge, part 2

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

We’ve recently been challenging ourselves with OSHA recordable quizzes posted by the smart folks at the Advanced Safety and Health News Blog. We found them interesting enough that over the next few weeks, we will pose the scenarios / questions and you can test your knowledge. Click the headlines to go to the respective blog post and learn the answers.
Recordkeeping Quiz #6: counting days
Scenario: One of your employees injured his foot at work on a Thursday. Your physician said he could not work and scheduled a follow-up appointment on the following Tuesday. The physician would then determine if your employee could return to work or would need to be away longer. The employee was not scheduled to work on Saturday or Sunday, but was scheduled to be at work on Monday.
Question: Since your employee was not scheduled to work on the weekend, do you need to record this time as part of the days away from work?
Recordkeeping Quiz #7: are flu illnesses recordable?
Scenario: Your business is in the middle of flu season and many employees are calling in sick. Two of the employees are claiming that they have been diagnosed by their doctors with the H1N1 flu. They say they contracted the flu at work from a co-worker who was also diagnosed with the H1N1. The two employees want you to record their illnesses because they say they got the flu at work.
Question: Are you required to record these flu related illnesses?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #8: maximum recordable days
Scenario: One of your employees suffered a very serious broken leg due to an accident at work. She had surgery and is in rehabilitation. Her physician cannot give a definite date or even an estimate of when she will be able to return to work. She may be out of work for many months, but is expected to fully recover and be able to work in her job again.
Question: Is there a maximum number of days that should be recorded on the OSHA 300 Log for cases such as this one?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #9: posting the entire 300 Log
Scenario: You are the Safety Manager for your company and are responsible for completing the OSHA 300 Log. It is time for you to have your new Plant Manager sign the “Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses” Form 300-A so you can post it as required by the standard. You spent quite a bit of time explaining to him how the whole OSHA recordkeeping process works, and he demonstrated quite an interest in what you were doing and the types of injuries your plant was experiencing.
As you are leaving his office, he makes the following statement to you: “When it comes to safety, we have no secrets around here. I think it would be a great idea if you post the entire 300 Log along with the Summary so people see just exactly what type of injuries we are having.”
Question: How should you respond to his statement?

OSHA Recordables – test your knowledge

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

We’ve recently been challenging ourselves with OSHA recordable quizzes posted by the smart folks at the Advanced Safety and Health News Blog. We found them interesting enough that over the next week or so, we will pose the scenarios / questions and you can test your knowledge. Click the headlines to go to the respective blog post and learn the answers.
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #1: horseplay
Scenario: Two of your supervisors completed their work for the day and had entered the change trailer to change clothes and proceed home. There was some bantering back and forth concerning how to beat the traffic at shift’s end. The discussion escalated into a physical confrontation where one supervisor allegedly pulled a knife and struck the other in the right bicep, causing a laceration that required sutures to close.
Question: Is the injury the one employee received an OSHA recordable or not?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #2: go-cart racing
Scenario: An employee is injured while participating in go-cart racing, which occurred during an off-site company sponsored team-building event. Employees were required to attend the off-site meeting and lunch, but were then free to choose among the following options: (1) participating in the team-building event; (2) returning to the office to finish the work day; or (3) taking a ½-day vacation.
Questions: Is an injury incurred during the go-cart racing considered to be work-related? Is the answer any different if an employee elects to stay for the go-cart racing but is not required to participate and is injured while watching the racing?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #3: personal tasks
Scenario: An employee knits a sweater for her daughter during the lunch break. She lacerates her hand and needed sutures. She is engaged in a personal task.
Question: Are lunch breaks or other breaks considered “assigned working hours?” Is the case recordable?
Recordkeeping Quiz #4: injuries in company parking lots
Scenario 1: Employee A drives to work, parks her car in the company parking lot and is walking across the lot when she is struck by a car driven by employee B, who is commuting to work. Both employees are seriously injured in the accident.
Scenario 2: Employee C commutes from home to work and parks his personally-owned vehicles in the company controlled parking lot. The employee opened the driver side door and started to exit his car when he caught his right foot on the raised door threshold. The employee subsequently fell onto the parking lot surface and sustained a right knee cap injury that required medical treatment.
Question: Is either case work-related?
OSHA Recordkeeping Quiz #5: damage to dentures
Scenario: One of your employees was hit in the mouth by an object while he was performing his normal work duties. However, his dental bridge was damaged. He has not wanted any medical or dental treatment.
Question 1: Would damage to a denture in the presence of no other discernible injury be considered a recordable injury requiring entry on the OSHA 300 log even when medical treatment is not administered?
Question 2: In the context of repair to a denture, what type of activity would be considered medical treatment?
Question 3: Would simple repair to a denture meet the threshold for the definition of medical treatment?

Measuring Success 2

Tuesday, January 6th, 2004

As I’ve said previously, a company that wants to have low workers’ compensation costs has to have effective ways to measure the performance of its safety and injury management efforts. In December, I wrote about the Cost of Losses per Full Time Equivalent Employees (FTE). Today, it’s time to talk about the Severity Rate.
In nearly all cases, time away from work drives the cost of losses more than any other determinant. This is why modified duty plays such a vital role in controlling costs. Therefore, the severity rate, which measures lost time, becomes the single best non-economic indicator of the overall effectiveness of a company’s workers’ compensation program. So, what is it, and how do we calculate it?
The severity rate is the number of days away from work due to workplace injury or illness per 100 full time employees (FTEs) per year. It sounds daunting, but the Department of Labor has made it easy to get and use this data.
For more than thirty years the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has required most companies to maintain what is called the “OSHA Log.” On this report, every workplace injury and illness is recorded along with the resulting time away from full duty, as well as time spent on restricted duty.
Every year, each company required to keep the OSHA Log sends a copy of it to the DOL, which includes it within a national database maintained by its Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS collates data from each Standard Industrial Classification (SIC Code) and publishes an annual national average rate of time away from work, or “severity rate,” for each SIC Code.
To calculate your severity rate, divide the total number of days lost due to occupational injury or illness by the total number of hours worked by all employees. Following this, compare your severity rate with the average for your SIC, published annually by the BLS. Remember, the average for your SIC is nothing more than the middle of the bell curve; it is neither good nor bad. You should set for your company a goal of maintaining a severity rate that is 50% less than your industry’s average.