New OSHA Rule Eliminates Certain Reporting Requirements

OSHA has issued a final rule that eliminates the reporting requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) to OSHA each year.

These establishments are still required to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses).

The new final rule does not alter an employer’s duty to maintain OSHA Forms 300 and 301 on-site, and OSHA will continue to obtain these forms as needed through inspections and enforcement actions.

The eliminated requirements were part of the Obama-era electronic recordkeeping rule, Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses.

OSHA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in July 2018 signaling the agency’s intent to roll back the rule, arguing that requiring the electronic reporting of information from forms 300 and 301 posed a risk to employee privacy and created an unnecessary burden on employers.

Employer ID Number

OSHA is also amending the recordkeeping regulation to require covered employers to electronically submit their Employer Identification Number with their information from Form 300A.

According to the agency, the final rule’s requirement for employers to submit their EIN to OSHA electronically along with their information from OSHA Form 300A will make the data more useful for OSHA and BLS and could reduce duplicative reporting burdens on employers in the future.

Collection of Calendar Year 2018 information from Form 300A began on Jan. 2, 2019. The deadline for electronic submissions is March 2, 2019.

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