OSHA updates data used for its Site-Specific Targeting Program

Washington — OSHA is revising its Site-Specific Targeting inspection program to update the Form 300A data it requires.

Form 300A is an annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. Under current OSHA regulations, establishments with 250 or more employees and those with 20-plus employees in certain high-hazard industries must submit Form 300A data to the agency each year.

According to an OSHA directive issued Feb. 7, the SST inspection program is for non-construction workplaces with 20 or more employees and directs agency enforcement resources toward establishments with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses.

Among the significant changes listed in the directive, OSHA will use calendar year 2021 data, instead of CY 2019 data, to select which “high-rate” establishments the agency will inspect. “High rate” is considered above the average DART (days away, restricted or transferred) rate for either manufacturing or non-manufacturing establishments.

The two DART rates will allow the agency to “equally target” manufacturing and non-manufacturing establishments.

For “upward trending” establishments – those with DART rates that were at least twice the national average of the private sector’s rate in 2019 and have continued to trend upward through 2021 – OSHA will use 2019-2021 data instead of 2017-2019 data.

In addition, 2021 data will be used for a random sample of establishments that didn’t send in Form 300A data during the year. The agency will test the reliability of Form 300A data with a random sample of low-rate establishments.