Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has announced new rules requiring a broad range of employers to electronically submit additional injury and illness information in 2024.
Despite many delays and lawsuits from affected stakeholders, OSHA announced today that it will expand the types of OSHA forms employers must submit via the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) in 2024, for the 2023 calendar year.
Employers across all industries were already required to submit OSHA Form 300A (Annual Summaries) for each establishment (worksite) with 250 or more employees. Establishments with an NAICS code from certain "high-hazard" industries with 20 to 249 employees were also required to report. The new rules announced today impose a new compliance obligation for establishments with 100 or more employees in "high-hazard" industries (including some employers on a new list), to electronically submit information from their Form 300A, Form 300 (OSHA 300 Log) and Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Reports for each row on the 300 log) to OSHA once a year. The industries covered by the new rule include a significant portion of the American workforce: manufacturing, construction, health care, retail, warehousing, transportation, and performing arts. Employers with 250 or more employees that are not in the "high-hazard" industries are now not required to electronically submit recordkeeping information to OSHA.
In addition to the new compliance requirements, OSHA has indicated that it intends to publish the data online for public access, although information related to identifying employees, such as names and contact information, will not be publicly released or released through FOIA requests. Information related to the number of injuries at a worksite and nature of those injuries, however, will be freely available to current and potential customers, union organizers, current and potential employees, and plaintiff's lawyers.
In light of the new compliance obligations, as well as the potential exposure employers may face from the new rule, companies should consult experienced counsel to develop strategies in addressing how to minimize the instances of recordable injuries or illnesses at the workplace, as well as ensuring all required OSHA records are properly kept.
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