OSHA's REGULATORY CLOCK IS TICKING DOWN
Oyez, oyez, oyez
Acting as an unsanctioned Town Crier, I’m ringing the bell to remind you that OSHA’s regulatory clock is ticking down for you to post your company’s OSHA 300A 301 forms no later than 12:01 AM of Feb. 1st 2019 - thus reflecting the calendar year that once was 2018.
Copies of the OSHA 300A forms must remain posted at a “conspicuous place or places,” up to and including April 30th of each calendar year. The OSHA 300A log posting requirements applies even if you were lucky or good enough to have had zero recordable injuries and illnesses at your company during the preceding calendar year.
However, if your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, or, if your establishment is classified in a specific low hazard risk industry, you do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics informs you in writing that you must-keep records.
Nonetheless, for the vast majority of you that are required to maintain OSHA 300 records, failure to follow prescribed OSHA 300 record-keeping requirements can result with an OSHA citation and fine – if - your hand is caught in OSHA’s cookie jar.
As an employer, you are required to prepare and maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses that occur at your facility. In addition, don’t forget that OSHA 300 record-keeping documents have a retention requirement of 5 years.
Effective record-keeping is just as important as safety training when it comes to eschewing workplace injuries and illnesses. Record-keeping gives one a solid foundation for a successful and well-managed safety program. The OSHA 300 record-keeping log is an excellent tool for generating data that your company can use to measure and direct preventive safety measures for the future.
As a supplementary caveat - be aware too that back on Feb. 2012, OSHA had updated its record-keeping National Emphasis Program (NEP). NEP was designed to investigate (and cite employers when applicable) whether injuries and illnesses (and to what depth) were being under reported and/or incorrectly reported by employers. The NEP has been zeroing in on those discerning employers within low-rate establishments operating in historically high-rate industries - simply because OSHA postulates that’s where most of the under reporting is occurring.
On Jan. 25, 2019 OSHA published a final rule eliminating an Obama administration rule that required large employers (of 250 or more) to submit detailed injury data (Forms 300 and 301) citing concerns for worker privacy. OSHA also amended the record-keeping regulation that required relevant employers to submit their Employer Identification Number electronically along with their injury and illness data submission.
By visiting OSHA’s webpage, you’ll find a dedicated and easy to navigate website that will explain to you -step by step - in unadorned English and Espa?ola, how to properly complete the multiple OSHA 300 forms.
One last heed - if your state legislators elected to have their own state-OSHA, there can be marked differences between your particular state-OSHA record-keeping requirements and that of federal OSHA’s record-keeping requirements - differences that your company must be aware of and abide to.