Don't Be Misled...OSHA Recordkeeping Has Not Gone Away!
Glenn Miller, MBA, MS
Effectively fulfilling your needs for customized solutions in EHS, EPA, OSHA and Logistics Compliance.
Based on an article in Ohio Law Blog 4/5/17
On April 3, 2017, President Trump signed a Congressional resolution (HJ Res. 83) that revokes a key Obama-era OSHA rule. That rule, known as the Volks rule, extended OSHA’s authority to issue citations for record-keeping violations from six months to an astounding (and potentially VERY costly) five years. While OSHA still requires employers to keep injury and illness logs for five years, OSHA will only issue record-keeping citations six months following a violation.
While this change is significant for employers, it is also significant that this resolution does not impact OSHA’s electronic record-keeping rule and its anti-retaliation provisions, also enacted under President Obama’s watch. Stay tuned, however, as President Trump has promised that his federal agencies will focus on compliance and education, not enforcement. Accordingly, OSHA’s record-keeping and retaliation rules are far from safe.
What to do in the meantime? Continue keeping very accurate and updated injury logs with the understanding that they may still need to be filed electronically and could become public record.
HSE risk assessment leader| Environmental compliance | HSE audit and training junky| Change management pioneer| Injury prevention specialist| Continuous improvement
7 年Thank you! I keep explaining this to clients, staff and others. The titles on the recent articles misleads people to think a roll back of the final rule for e-filing when it is Volks Rule which is a separate provision.
Heavy Industrial lead Pipefitter/Foreman
7 年you do what you do. and let the President do what he does.
Occupational Safety, Health (Industrial Hygiene), Environmental, Training, Programs Management
7 年Thanks!