Workplace Safety
OSHA Again Pushes Back Record-Keeping Rule Deadline
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is extending again—this time, by two weeks—the compliance date for its rule requiring companies to file annual electronic reports of workplace injuries and illnesses.
OSHA also says it is reviewing the underlying 2016 Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses regulation and will propose a new rule next year "to reconsider, revise or remove" some provisions.
The latest injury-reporting deadline, which OSHA announced on Nov. 22, is Dec. 15. Earlier this year, the agency had pushed back the date to Dec. 1 from July 1.
The reporting requirement applies to companies with 250 or more workers. It also applies to companies employing between 20 and 249 workers in construction and 45 other "high-hazard" industries.
The agency also noted that seven states' OSHA-approved health-and-safety plans haven't yet adopted the federal electronic-filing requirement: California, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. There are 22 such OSHA-approved state plans.
On another front, a group of industry organizations, led by the National Association of Home Builders, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 4 in an Oklahoma City federal district court, seeking to strike down the reporting regulation. The organizations contend that, among other things, OSHA doesn't have the authority to set up an online injury and illness database that would be publicly available.
Granting a Dept. of Labor request, U.S. District Judge David Russell on July 11 issued a stay of the proceedings in the case.
Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool.
Ask ENR →
