WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a new enforcement directive that provides guidance to employers on how to comply with the agency’s new illness and injury recordkeeping rule. Although the directive is intended for use by OSHA enforcement officers, it is a good compliance tool for employers subject to the new recordkeeping regulations, which take effect January 1, 2002.
The rule requires employers to keep records of occupational deaths, illnesses and injuries, and make certain reports to OSHA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Smaller employers (with 10 or fewer workers) and employers who have establishments in certain retail, service, finance, real estate, or insurance industries are not required to keep these records. However, they must report to OSHA any occupational fatalities or catastrophes that occur in their establishments, and they must participate in government surveys if they are asked to do so.
According to the compliance directive, OSHA inspectors will review an establishment’s illness and injury records for the three prior calendar years. Employers who fail to comply with the new regulations could face penalties of $1,000 for each year they fail to properly maintain the new OSHA Form 300. Employers could be fined $1,000, up to a maximum of $7,000, for each OSHA Form 301 that is not completed at all, and $1,000, up to a maximum of $3,000, for each OSHA 301 that is only partially completed.
The compliance directive also addresses privacy concerns. Specifically, employers cannot enter an employee’s name on the OSHA 300 if the work-related injury involves one of the following: (1) an injury or illness to an intimate body part or the reproductive system; (2) an injury or illness related to a sexual assault; (3) a mental illness; (4) HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis; (5) needlesticks or sharp injuries that involve another person’s blood or potentially infected material; and (6) other illnesses, if the employee voluntarily requests that his name not be entered on the log.
The compliance directive, which is entitled “Recordkeeping Policies and Procedures Manual (RKM),” CPL-2-0.131, also contains a checklist for compliance officers to follow when conducting their inspections. Under a settlement with the National Association of Manufacturers, OSHA will not begin enforcement of the new recordkeeping rule until May 1, 2002. Employers, including ILMA members, are well advised to become familiar with this document, which is available on OSHA’s website at http://www.osha-slc.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_2-0_131.pdf .
