Employers take note: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has amended its recordkeeping requirements – effective as of January 1, 2002. This article summarizes the key changes to OSHA’s recordkeeping rules. The summary is merely an overview, however, and is not comprehensive – employers should therefore consult legal counsel for more information.
New Forms.
Employers are now required to use the OSHA 300-Log, OSHA 300A-Summary, and OSHA 301-Incident Report (instead of the old OSHA 200 and 101 forms). The new forms are simpler, yet provide more data about how a work-related injury or illness occurred, and make it easier for employers to calculate incidence rates. Employers are now also allowed to store the information on their computer or on alternative forms under certain circumstances.
New Recording Criteria.
An employee is now considered to have "restricted work activity" due to a work-related injury or illness if he or she cannot work a full shift or cannot perform a routine job function, defined as any duty regularly performed at least once a week (old rule defined restricted work activity as inability to perform normal job duty, meaning any duty which would be expected to be performed throughout the calendar year). Restricted work activity no longer needs to be recorded if the restriction is limited to the day of the injury. Also, all work-related illnesses no longer need to be recorded (only those which meet the general recording criteria). Day counts for work missed due to work-related injuries or illnesses are now capped at 180 calendar days.
New Meaning to "Work-Related" Injuries or Illnesses.
Under the new rule, only "significant" aggravation of a pre-existing condition by a workplace event or exposure makes the injury or illness "work-related" (the old rule included all aggravations). Also, injuries or illnesses will no longer be presumed to be "work-related" if they are caused from: eating, drinking, or preparing one’s own food; voluntarily participating in a wellness program; personal tasks; personal grooming; self-medication or self-infliction; the common cold or flu; or mental illnesses. Parking lots and recreational facilities are now considered part of the workplace, but a motor vehicle accident which occurs in the parking lot during the employee’s commute to or from work is not work-related. The new regulations also clarify when an injury or illness which occurs while the employee is traveling or working from home should be considered "work-related."
Employee Notice and Access Rights.
Employers now have an affirmative duty to inform their employees of the procedure for reporting a work-related injury or illness. In addition to the Log, employees must now also be given access to their individual incident reports (OSHA 301), and authorized employee representatives must be provided access to a portion of all OSHA 301s.
Narrower Definition of "Medical Treatment."
Under the new regulations, medical treatment does not include a visit to a doctor for observation and counseling only, diagnostic procedures (including taking prescription medication for diagnostic purposes), or first aid (defined by a comprehensive list in the regulation itself).
Discrimination Prohibited.
The new regulation specifically notes that employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees who report a work-related injury or illness, file a safety-related complaint, request access to OSHA records, or exercise any other rights afforded under the Act.
Certification and Posting.
A company executive must certify the annual summary (old rule allowed employee who supervised the summary’s preparation to certify). The annual summary must now be posted from February 1 to April 30 (old rule only required posting during February).
Privacy Rights.
Employers must withhold disclosing an employee’s name on the OSHA 300 Log for certain types of sensitive injuries or illnesses (e.g., sexual assaults, HIV infections, mental illnesses, etc.). Employers are also allowed to withhold descriptive information about the injury if doing so would disclose the employee’s identity. Employers are required to remove employees’ names before providing injury and illness data to persons who do not have access rights under the rule.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.