The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has
extended the comment period for the proposed rule change clarifying the employers’ continuing
obligation to make and maintain accurate records of injuries or illness which occur at the work
place. The deadline to submit comments has been extended to October 28, 2015.
This rule change was proposed on July 29, 2015 through the Federal Registrar. The rule change
came in response to the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in AKM LLC
Vs Secretary of Labor. This change looks to clarify the position that the duty to record an injury
or illness continues for as long as the employer must keep records of the recordable injury or
illness. This rule change will not require employers to make records of any injuries or illnesses
for which records are not already required.
This proposed rule change will have a limited impact, at most, on most employers. But what it
will do is put an emphasis back on the importance of a procedure to document, track, and
monitor workplace injuries. So if your company does not currently have detailed policies and
procedures in place to account for these things, it is imperative you put something in place soon,
otherwise you risk citations and fines from OSHA.
If you have any questions about how this rule change could impact your business or about how
to properly establish policies and procedures relating to employer injury reporting and tracking,
please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of well-defined plans in
relation to these reports, please leave a comment,
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