OSHA’s revised rule on injury and illness data submission undergoing final review

Washington — OSHA’s changes to which workplaces are required to submit annual injury and illness data are undergoing final review, according to an Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs dashboard. 

OSHA currently requires electronic submissions of Form 300A – a yearly summary of injury and illnesses data – for establishments with 250 or more employees and those with 20 to 249 employees in certain high-hazard industries. 

The agency wants to require establishments with 100-plus employees in high-hazard industries to submit injury and illness data from the more detailed Forms 300 and 301, in addition to Form 300A, each year. Establishments in those same industries with 20 to 99 employees would need to submit only Form 300A under the proposal.

OSHA has also proposed to end the electronic reporting requirement for establishments with 250-plus employees that aren’t on the list of high-hazard industries. Additionally, the agency is seeking to update its classification system that determines which industries are covered under its electronic reporting requirements and to require establishments to include a company name when submitting data to the agency.

“As part of OSHA’s mission to protect workers and mitigate workplace hazards, this rule would improve OSHA’s ability to use its enforcement and compliance assistance resources to identify workplaces where workers are at high risk,” the agency said in a March 2022 press release.

It’s unclear how long the review will take. OSHA’s permanent standard on COVID-19 for health care workers has been under review since Dec. 7. A proposed rule on personal protective equipment in construction needed seven months for its review and has yet to appear in the Federal Register.