OSHA gives employers until Dec. 31 to electronically submit injury, illness data

Washington — OSHA has delayed once again the compliance date for employers to electronically submit injury and illness data.

Submissions of Form 300A through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application website will continue to be accepted until midnight on Dec. 31, the agency announced Dec. 18. The Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses final rule mandates that establishments with 250 or more workers electronically submit OSHA’s Form 300A. OSHA then would make the information public on its website.

The original compliance date for 2016 data was July 1. OSHA then extended the deadline to Dec. 1 in June, citing a need to allow President Donald Trump’s administration time to review the electronic reporting requirements and become more familiar with the reporting system.

On Aug. 14, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team alerted OSHA of a “potential compromise of user information” in the ITA, but the National Information Technology Center later found no data breach. OSHA stated in November that a two-week compliance date delay, pushing it Dec. 15, was necessary to make up for the time that employers could not access the ITA in August and allow “affected employers additional time to become familiar with a new electronic reporting system.”