Electronic Recordkeeping

OSHA’s E-Recordkeeping Deadline Extended Again – Stroke of Midnight December 31, 2017

Eric J. Conn 1 Comment

By Eric J. Conn

The December 15, 2017 deadline for large employers and small employers in certain “high hazard industries” to submit injury and illness data to OSHA has just passed, but it is not too late to submit injury data without being cited by OSHA for missing the deadline.  OSHA announced today that will continue to accept employers’ 300A annual summary injury data for calendar year 2016 through the agency’s new Injury Tracking Application (ITA) (the portal that will receive the injury data) until midnight on December 31, 2017, and will not take any enforcement action against those employers who submit data between now and then, even though the submissions would technically be late.  Beginning January 1, 2018, the portal will no longer accept 2016 data.

We have closely tracked the Trump Administration’s treatment of OSHA’s new E-Recordkeeping and Anti-Retaliation Rule, and while there have been plenty of signals that this rule is due for an overhaul, or even possibly to be rescinded entirely, no such action was taken to interfere with the first required data submission, other than to extend the deadline from this summer to December 15th, and now to December 31st, for all intents and purposes.

Therefore, if employers missed the deadline, they should immediately evaluate whether the rule applies to any or all of their workplaces, get familiar with and set up an account in OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application, and submit covered injury data (i.e., their 2016 OSHA 300A Annual Summary data) by December 31, 2017.

Background about the Electronic Recordkeeping Rule

Historically, unless OSHA opened an enforcement inspection at an employer’s workplace or the Bureau of Labor Statistics requested an employer’s participation in its annual injury data survey, employers’ Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Logs and related forms remained strictly in-house. Employers kept the data and their OSHA logs in their HR or Safety Department office, posted them internally for employees to view for a couple of months each year, used the data themselves to make decisions about how to reduce risks of injuries and illnesses in their workplaces, and then stored the records in a cabinet or desk drawer for five years.  Now, OSHA’s new rule requires hundreds of thousands of employers to proactively submit these historically private records to OSHA, which in turn may publish the data online for all the world to see.

Key Changes in OSHA’s New Recordkeeping Rule:

  1. Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain so-called “high hazard industries” must each year submit information from their 300A Annual Summaries only.
  2. All establishments with 250 or more employees (in industries not exempt from keeping injury logs) must submit to OSHA annually their injury and illness data from their OSHA 300 Logs, 301 Incident Reports, and 300A Annual Summaries. In this first year of the rule, however, for 2016 injury data to be submitted in calendar year 2017, all employers, irrespective of size, are only required to submit 300A Annual Summary data.
  3. The submissions to OSHA must be made electronically, via a purportedly secure web portal.
  4. OSHA stated its original intent was to publish the data online, likely in a manner that is sortable, searchable, filterable, and as embarrassing to employers as possible. It is unclear whether the Trump Administration will publish the data, but the records may nonetheless be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests by plaintiffs’ attorneys, the media, union organizers, and competitors, to use the data in a variety of ways to harm employers.

Deadline to Submit Data – A Moving Target

The deadline to submit data has been a moving topic and source of uncertainty since the Trump Administration took the reins at OSHA.  Continue reading →

Announcing Conn Maciel Carey’s 2018 OSHA Webinar Series

Eric J. Conn 1 Comment

The Trump Administration has taken the reins at OSHA, and the first year of the new OSHA’s enforcement and regulatory (or de-regulatory) agenda is in the books.  We have already seen significant changes in the way OSHA does business and the tools available to the Agency in its toolkit.  Now, as the new Administration finishes filling out the OSHA leadership team with its own appointees, we are sure to see shifting of enforcement priorities, budgets and policies, and an amplified effort to repeal or re-interpret controversial Obama-era OSHA rules and policies.  Accordingly, it is critical to stay abreast of OSHA developments.

Conn Maciel Carey’s complimentary 2018 OSHA Webinar Series, presented by the firm’s national OSHA Practice Group, is designed to give employers insight into changes and developments at OSHA during this period of flux.

To register for an individual webinar, click the link below the program description.  To register for the entire 2018 series, click here to send us an email request, and we will register you.  If you missed any programs from prior years, here is a link to an archive of recordings of those webinars.

OSHA’s 2017 in Review & 2018 Forecast

Tuesday, January 16th
New Cal/OSHA Enforcement Issues

Tuesday, July 10th
Unlock the Mysteries of OSHA’s Lockout/Tagout Standard

Tuesday, February 20th
Future of OSHA’s Policy
of Public Shaming

Tuesday, August 21st
OSHA’s New Leadership Team

Tuesday, March 20th
Walking/Working Surfaces Update

Tuesday, September 18th
OSHA’s New Silica & Beryllium Rules

Tuesday, April 17th
Repeat, Willful & Egregious CiTations

Tuesday, October 16th
OSHA’s New E-Recordkeeping
and Anti-Retaliation Rule

Tuesday, May 5th
 Process Safety Update:
OSHA PSM and EPA RMP

Tuesday, November 13th
Joint- and Multi-Employers,
Contractors and Temps

Tuesday, June 5th
OSHA and the ADA: How Two
Labor Laws Align and Diverge

Tuesday, December 4th
See below for descriptions of the webinars and registration links

Continue reading →

Status of OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping Rule – 1st Deadline (Dec. 15) to Submit Injury Data is Upon Us

Eric J. Conn Leave a comment

By Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon

The December 15, 2017 deadline for large employers and small employers in certain “high hazard industries” to submit injury and illness data to OSHA is less than a month away.  We have been tracking closely the Trump Administration’s treatment of OSHA’s new E-Recordkeeping and Anti-Retaliation Rule, and while there have been plenty of signals that this rule is due for an overhaul, or even possibly to be rescinded, it appears that the initial data submission deadline of December 15th is going to stand.

Therefore, if employers have not already done so, they should immediately evaluate whether the rule applies to any or all of their workplaces, get familiar with and set up an account in OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (the portal that will receive the injury data), and submit covered injury data (i.e., their 2016 OSHA 300A Annual Summary data) by December 15, 2017.

Background about the Electronic Recordkeeping Rule

Historically, unless OSHA opened an enforcement inspection at an employer’s workplace or the Bureau of Labor Statistics requested an employer’s participation in its annual injury data survey, employers’ Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Logs and related forms remained strictly in-house. Employers kept the data and their OSHA logs in their HR or Safety Department office, posted them internally for employees to view for a couple of months each year, used the data themselves to make decisions about how to reduce risks of injuries and illnesses in their workplaces, and then stored the records in a cabinet or desk drawer for five years.  Now, OSHA’s new rule requires hundreds of thousands of employers to proactively submit these historically private records to OSHA, which in turn may publish the data online for all the world to see.

Key Changes in OSHA’s New Recordkeeping Rule:

  1. Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain so-called “high hazard industries” must each year submit information from their 300A Annual Summaries only.
  2. All establishments with 250 or more employees (in industries not exempt from keeping injury logs) must submit to OSHA annually their injury and illness data from their OSHA 300 Logs, 301 Incident Reports, and 300A Annual Summaries. In this first year of the rule, however, for 2016 injury data to be submitted in calendar year 2017, all employers, irrespective of size, are only required to submit 300A Annual Summary data.
  3. The submissions to OSHA must be made electronically, via a purportedly secure web portal.
  4. OSHA stated its original intent was to publish the data online, likely in a manner that is sortable, searchable, filterable, and as embarrassing to employers as possible. It is unclear whether the Trump Administration will publish the data, but the records may nonetheless be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests by plaintiffs’ attorneys, the media, union organizers, and competitors, to use the data in a variety of ways to harm employers.

Deadline to Submit Data – A Moving Target

The deadline to submit data has been a moving topic and source of uncertainty since the Trump Administration took the reins at OSHA.  Continue reading →

State Plan Implementation of OSHA’s E-Recordkeeping Data Submission Rule

Eric J. Conn 2 Comments

By Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon

OSHA’s Final Rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” (aka the E-Recordkeeping Rule) requires employers of  certain sizes that fall into certain categories to proactively submit electronic injury and illnesses data to OSHA through its new web portal – the “Injury Tracking Application.”  The new rule dramatically changes the responsibilities and impacts of OSHA’s long-standing injury and illness recordkeeping program.RK Fact Sheet

Historically, unless OSHA opened an enforcement inspection at an employer’s workplace or the Bureau of Labor Statistics requested an employer to participate in its annual injury data survey, employers’ OSHA 300 Logs and related forms remained strictly in-house. Employers kept the data and their OSHA logs in their HR or Safety Department office, posted them internally for employees to view for a couple of months, used the data themselves to make decisions about how to reduce risk of injury and illness in their workplaces, and then stored the records in a cabinet or desk drawer for five years.  Now, OSHA’s new rule requires hundreds of thousands of employers to proactively submit these historically private records to OSHA, which in turn may publish the data online for all the world to see.

Key Changes in OSHA’s New Recordkeeping Rule

  1. All establishments with 250 or more employees (in industries not exempt from keeping injury logs) must submit to OSHA annually their injury and illness data from their OSHA 300 Logs, 301 Incident Reports, and 300A Annual Summaries.
  2. Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain so-called “high hazard industries” must each year submit information from their 300A Annual Summaries only.
  3. All of the submissions to OSHA must be made electronically, via a purportedly secure website.
  4. OSHA stated its original intent was to publish the data online, likely in a manner that is sortable, searchable, filterable, and as embarrassing to employers as possible.

Note however, in this first year of the rule, for the upcoming data submission of 2016 injury data to be made in calendar year 2017, all employers, irrespective of size, are only required to submit 300A Annual Summary data.

Deadline to Submit Data – A Moving Target

The deadline to submit data has been a topic of discussion, and there remains some uncertainty whether employers will be required to electronically submit injury and illness data.  Continue reading →

The Latest on OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping and Anti-Retaliation Rule [Webinar Recording]

Daniel C. Deacon Leave a comment

On September 12, 2017, Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon of Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA Practice presented a webinar regarding the Latest on OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping and Anti-Retaliation Rule.

OSHA’s controversial Electronic Injury and Illness Recordkeeping data submission rule, along with new Anti-Retaliation elements, has thus far survived a barrage of negative stakeholder comments during the rulemaking, multiple enforcement deferrals and delays of effective dates, and legal challenges complete with preliminary injunction motions.  As of today, all elements of the rule are still in effect, including limits on post-injury drug testing and safety incentive programs, and barring a change before December 1, 2017, hundreds of thousands of workplaces will, for the first time, submit injury and illness recordkeeping data to OSHA, possibly for publishing online.

During this webinar, participants learned:

Continue reading →

OSHA Indefinitely Delays E-Recordkeeping Data Submission Requirements

Daniel C. Deacon Leave a comment

By Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon

In the final year of the Obama Administration, OSHA published a controversial amendment to its Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rule known as the “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” Rule.  As published last year, the new Final Rule significantly changed employers’ obligations under OSHA’s recordkeeping scheme.  Among other hotly contested provisions, the new rule would require employers, beginning July 1, 2017, to proactively submit their employee injury and illness recordkeeping data to OSHA, so that OSHA could publish the data for all the world to see.

In a dramatic, but not unexpected, move last week, OSHA suspended this controversial data submission requirement with no word on when – or whether – a new deadline would be set for the data submission.

Telltale signs that the new Administration was rethinking the data collection requirement, and especially the plan to publish data, were clear well before last week.  OSHA stated at the time the rule was published in May 2016 that it would develop a secure portal into which employers would submit the data, and that the portal would be live by February 2017, well in advance of the July 1st data submission deadline.  We understand the development of the database was completed, and learned that OSHA beta-tested the portal with the help of a few major national employers and employer organizations.

Nevertheless,  Winter and Spring came and went with no public sign of the secure data portal, or update from OSHA about how precisely the database would function or when it would go live.  Since we are so close to the July 1st submission deadline and still no database with which employers could begin to get familiar, it was not surprising that on May 17th, OSHA updated its website to officially announce a reprieve from the looming July 1st deadline, stating:

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.

Our expectation is that the new Administration will Continue reading →

Court Denies Motion to Stay OSHA’s Enforcement of Anti-Retaliation Elements of E-Recordkeeping Rule

Eric J. Conn 2 Comments

By Eric J. Conn

By Law the Anti-Retaliation Provisions of OSHA’s New Electronic Recordkeeping Rule Become Effective December 1st — Tomorrow!

On November 28, 2016, the federal district court Judge in the Northern District of Texas hearing Industry’s legal challenge to the anti-retaliation portions of OSHA’s new electronic recordkeeping rule (i.e., limits on injury reporting requirements, post-incident drug testing, and safety incentive programs), pi-rulingissued an Order denying Industry’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have prohibited OSHA from enforcing these controversial new provisions. The Court’s Order clears the way for the new provisions to become effective and enforceable as of December 1, 2016.

Accordingly, it is not only prudent but perhaps imperative that employers immediately evaluate their safety incentive programs; drug testing programs; management bonus compensation schemes; and injury reporting policies to determine whether they comport with the new rule.

The rule adds new language to OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping regulation at 29 C.F.R. 1904.35(b)(1):

“reasonable procedure for employees to report work related injuries and illnesses promptly and accurately. . . .  [A reporting procedure] is not reasonable if it would deter or discourage a reasonable employee from accurately reporting a workplace injury or illness.”

Because this language is so broad and vague, it is impossible to understand from the face of the rule what policies and conduct are required or prohibited.  OSHA acknowledged that, as well, and Continue reading →

OSHA Issues Guidance on Recordkeeping Anti-Retaliation Rule – Even with the Fate of the Rule in Question

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By Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon

OSHA’s new electronic injury recordkeeping rule includes anti-retaliation provisions that create new employer obligations and prohibitions related to internal employee injury reporting procedures, and expands OSHA’s enforcement authority by introducing a vague new set of anti-retaliation provisions.  Particularly controversial is the impact of OSHA’s new rule on employers’ policies for post-injury drug testing, safety incentive programs, and executive compensation and bonuses.  RK Rule FRUntil very recently, employers have seen little guidance about what OSHA means by reasonable reporting procedures or what types of policies may violate the new anti-retaliation provisions.

On October 19, 2016, OSHA issued a Guidance Memorandum offering its interpretation of the vague, controversial anti-retaliation provisions of OSHA’s new electronic injury and illness recordkeeping rule.  The timing of OSHA’s issuance of the October Guidance is particularly noteworthy, given developments in the legal challenge filed by Industry plaintiffs in a federal district court in Texas (TEXO ABC/AGC, Inc., et al. v. Perez, Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-01998-D), which we have described in previous articles.  Specifically, just one week before issuing the Guidance Memo, OSHA deferred the enforcement effective date of the anti-retaliation provisions, for the second time, from November 1st to December 1st.  This second delay of the anti-retaliation rule was done at the specific request of the Texas judge overseeing the case, who is considering industry’s request for a Preliminary Injunction.

The Guidance is not unexpected.  Amidst growing frustration from Industry about the rule and its lack of clarity, OSHA promised last summer when it decided to first postpone the enforcement date from August 1, 2016 to November 1, 2016, to publish guidance explaining the new provisions.  Indeed, OSHA’s defense against Industry’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the rule is that there is no way Industry can show irreparable harm from the new rule because there was no way for employers to know what the rule actually prohibits and requires.

Before this Guidance Memo was released, OSHA had provided little understanding of precisely what Continue reading →

OSHA Postpones Enforcement of Anti-Retaliation Provisions of e-Recordkeeping Rule Again

Eric J. Conn 1 Comment

By Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon

OSHA has once again delayed enforcement of the controversial anti-retaliation provisions of its new electronic injury and illness recordkeeping rule.  OSHA issued its second delay of the effective date of enforcement of this portion of the rule at the request of Judge Sam Lindsay of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.  Judge Lindsay is presiding over a legal challenge to this portion of the rule filed by industry plaintiffs, and asked OSHA to delay enforcement of the anti-retaliation provisions RK Rule FRto give the court additional time to consider a pending motion for preliminary injunction to indefinitely delay enforcement.  The new enforcement delay runs through December 1, 2016.

As we have described in previous articles, OSHA included in the new electronic recordkeeping rule, a set of new obligations requiring employers to implement “reasonable reporting” procedures for employees to report to their employers work-related injuries. Also included are a broad and vague new set of provisions that expand OSHA’s enforcement authority to prevent employer retaliation against employees who report injuries and illnesses. OSHA has provided little guidance on precisely what the agency intends by “reasonable” reporting procedures or what types of policies may violate the new anti-retaliation provisions, but we understand from past policy statements and regulatory history that OSHA will at least focus on reporting deadlines, safety incentive programs, post-injury drug testing, and management compensation or bonuses tied to injury rates.

Industry plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas (TEXO ABC/AGC, Inc., et al. v. Perez, Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-01998-D) shortly after the final rule was promulgated, challenging these anti-retaliation elements of the rule on the grounds that OSHA did not show that the anti-relation provisions would actually reduce injury rates, and further that the agency did not follow requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) in the rulemaking process. The plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction seeking to prevent OSHA from beginning to enforce these provisions pending Continue reading →

OSHA’s Anti-Retaliation Recordkeeping Rule: Assault on Pizza Parties, Drug Tests and Exec Compensation

Eric J. Conn 2 Comments

By Eric J. Conn and Dan C. Deacon of Conn Maciel Carey PLLC

OSHA’s recent Injury and Illness Recordkeeping reform has created quite a stir for employers.  As we discussed in an earlier article about the new Recordkeeping rule, OSHA now requires employers to electronically submit to OSHA their injury and illness recordkeeping data.  OSHA will, in turn, publish the data online for all the world to dissect.  It turns out, however, RK Rule FRthe electronic recordkeeping data submission elements of the new rule may not be the most problematic for employers.

The new Recordkeeping rule also increases employers’ obligations to implement “reasonable reporting” procedures for employees to report to their employers the work related injuries they incur, and expands OSHA’s enforcement authority by introducing a vague new set of anti-retaliation provisions.  To date, employers have seen little guidance about what OSHA means by reasonable reporting procedures or what types of policies may violate the new anti-retaliation provisions.

Particularly controversial is the impact of OSHA’s new rule on employers’ policies for post-injury drug testing, safety incentive programs, and executive compensation and bonuses.  Although none of those words appear in the amended Recordkeeping regulation, OSHA addressed each in the Preamble to the Final Rule.

These topics have been on OSHA’s radar for nearly a decade, dating back to a 2008 Report issued by the House of Representative Committee on Education and Labor entitled “Hidden Tragedy: Underreporting of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses.”  From that time, OSHA has been making efforts to address a perceived culture of underreporting injuries and retaliation against employees who do report workplace injuries and illnesses. OSHA has used every tool at its disposal to chip away at employer policies and practices that purportedly discriminate against employees who report injuries, or that attempt to deter employees from reporting injuries in the first place.

Even before this rulemaking, OSHA has taken action against policies that OSHA believes discourage reporting or recording of work related injuries.  For example, Continue reading →

“Masters of Disaster” Podcast re: OSHA’s New Electronic Recordkeeping and Anti-Retaliation Rule

Eric J. Conn Leave a comment

Earlier this month, Eric J. Conn sat down with Leona Lewis, the Founder of ComplyEthic, to discuss OSHA’s new  final rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” for a new segment on ComplyEthic’s terrific Podcast — “Masters of Disaster.”  Here is a link to the interview on the podcast.

TheMasters of Disaster Podcast segment was entitled “All Sticks and No Carrots in Sight, OSHA’s New Injury Tracking Rule,” and featured a review of both the electronic injury data submission requirements of OSHA’s new rule, as well as the anti-retaliation and whistleblower elements of the rule.  Read more about OSHA’s new electronic recordkeeping rule here, or check out our recent webinar on the subject.

 

FAQ about OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping Rule: Establishment vs. Company-wide?

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By Eric J. Conn

The one question I have been asked more than any other about OSHA’s new final rule for injury and illness recordkeeping electronic submission (aka the “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” Rule), is whether the threshold numbers of employees that trigger data submission requirements apply corporate-wide or by individual establishment within the company.RK Rule FR

The new recordkeeping rule requires establishments with 250 or more employees to submit to OSHA annually their OSHA 300 Logs, 301 Incident Reports, and 300A Annual Summaries, and requires establishments with 20-249 employees in certain so-called “high hazard industries” to submit to OSHA annually the information from their 300A Annual Summaries only.

The question goes to those two threshold triggers for reporting.  Specifically, do employers count the:

  1. Total number of employees across the entire company, and if that total number exceeds 20 or 249 employees, report the applicable recordkeeping data for all locations; OR
  2. Employee numbers at each individual location, and report the applicable recordkeeping data for only locations where the employee count exceeds 20 or 249?

The data submission requirements of the new rule are Continue reading →

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