The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has just revised the record keeping rules that employers must submit when there are health and safety incidence in the workplace. Previously when there workplace injury incidence OSHA only required covered employers to notify them when a fatality occurred. At the beginning of 2015 these will be the record keeping changes.
NEW OSHA record keeping revisions include:
corpcounsel.com explains why OSHA has pushed for these new regulations. The agency (OSHA) has been working to get more data on workplace safety, including proposing a rule that would require certain companies to keep electronic records of injury and illness and establish a searchable website containing information that is available to the public.
businessweek.com further shed light on this OSHA change. The idea is that people increasingly accustomed to looking up product reviews on Amazon.com (AMZN) and restaurant reviews on Yelp (YELP) might do the same when they choose an employer, car, or credit card company. “Exposing problems early can help other consumers avoid similar problems before they become victims, too,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in July.
Business groups contend OSHA’s approach will add to the burdens faced by businesses without doing anything to help workers.
Informing existing and potential employees of workplace safety record, using press and citizen watch dogs to have access to these records, and making employers report more incidence with more detail is a real big shift in the OSHA incident reporting regulations. Some do not think this big change will help with workplace safety, but OHC will monitor and report on the implementation of this issue.
FYI: Please investigate further the revisions in the OSHA regulation exemptions at lexology.com.
If you need any more information on your workplace safety or you need a work-site audit and evaluation please contact OHC at ddaniel@occupationalhc.com or call 251.436.8039.
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RESOURCES & LINKS
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=fff22a26-bf71-4085-8f29-0f90517eedb9
http://www.corpcounsel.com/id=1202670095043/In-Case-of-Workplace-Accident-Increase-OSHA-Reporting#ixzz3E9cX3T6A
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-18/osha-will-put-workplace-safety-data-online-as-nudge-to-employers
