Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

For over a year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have championed the upcoming electronic submission of injury and illness records (i.e., OSHA 300 logs) through its website.  The new requirement was designed to make OSHA records publicly available on the internet in hopes that it would encourage employers to maintain safer working environments.  The electronic submissions of the 2016 reports were supposed to be due by July 1, 2017.

However, in a mid-May announcement, the government agency’s website declares “OSHA is not accepting electronic submissions of injury and illness logs at this time, and intends to propose extending the July 1, 2017 date by which certain employers are required to submit the information from their completed 2016 Form 300A electronically.”

According to an article on Front Page News, “several business groups, including the Associated Builders & Contractors, Association of General Contractors, and National Association of Home Builders, had challenged the 2016 Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation in court and lobbied the administration to jettison it on grounds that it could unfairly damage the reputation of some of their members.”

In preparation of the anticipated electronic submission requirement, developers of Rancho Mesa’s Risk Management Center, an online platform designed for risk management, workplace safety and compliance have been ready and waiting for the details of OSHA’s API (application programing interface) in order to build a seamless integration between the two websites. Rancho Mesa will keep its clients up to date on the development of this integration, if and when it becomes operational on the OSHA website.

As for now, Rancho Mesa is urging its clients to continue to track incidents in the Risk Management Center so they may take advantage of its trending tools and reports.

For details regarding who must keep and report OSHA records, visit www.osha.gov/injuryreporting.

Sources: 
“Injury Tracking Application: Electronic Submission of Injury and Illness Records to OSHA.”  United States Department of Labor. Retrieved from: https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/.
“OSHA suspends rule requiring firms report injury, illness data electronically.” Front Page News.  Retrieved from: http://www.advisen.com/tools/fpnproc/news_detail3.php?list_id=26&email=kvasquez@ranchomesa.com&tpl=news_detail3.tpl&dp=P&ad_scale=1&rid=283636777&adp=P&hkg=5cY58Bd37J