OSHA Indefinitely Delays July 1 Electronic Injury And Illness Reporting Deadline

In a not unexpected move, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced that it had suspended its controversial electronic injury and illness data submission requirement, previously set to go into effect on July 1, 2017. Specifically, OSHA's website which details its Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements has been updated to state: "OSHA is not accepting electronic submissions of injury and illness logs at this time, and intends to propose extending the July 1, 2017 date by which certain employers are required to submit the information from their completed 2016 Form 300A electronically. Updates will be posted to this webpage when they are available." OSHA has provided no word on when – or whether – a new deadline would be set for these data submissions. OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping rule, if it is actually implemented, would require hundreds of thousands of employers to submit what have historically been private, in-house injury and illness records to OSHA. These records would then be published online with the goal of discrediting employers for injuries and illnesses, despite the well-understood fact that these reported injuries and illnesses often have little to no relationship to an employer’s efforts to maintain a safe workplace. Employers should expect that OSHA will announce its intentions regarding this requirement after a new Agency head is appointed.