Matters of Public Record: OSHA Will Publish Employer’s Injury and Illness Data

In the latest update to its recordkeeping rule (29 CFR Part 1904), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will for the first time require employers to submit the injury and illness records that they are required to collect. But that’s not the only thing OSHA will begin doing in January 2017 when the rule’s data submission requirements go into effect. At that time, OSHA will also begin publishing employers’ injury and illness data on its website, making it possible for anyone—employees, marketers, potential customers, and others—to check the employer’s injury and illness history.

Here’s a rundown of the information OSHA intends to collect and make available.

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OSHA has always collected some injury and illness records and has used those to help determine its inspection priorities. It will still use the data in that way. However, now OSHA will also post the data on a publicly accessible website. The Agency’s stated goals for making the information accessible in this way include making the information accessible to employees without the need to ask their employer for it; making it easier for contracting agencies to check a potential contractor’s safety record; making it easier for researchers to obtain data for use in health and safety research; and using the power of public shaming to prompt employers to improve their safety and health practices. Essentially, OSHA believes that workplaces will be safer if large employers and employers in high-risk industries are confronted with the possibility that their safety slipups will be made public.

OSHA intends to collect the following data and make it available in a searchable online database:

• From the Form 300A (Annual Summary Form): All collected data fields will be made available. In the past, OSHA has collected these data under the ODI and during OSHA workplace inspections and released them in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The 300A annual summary, which must be posted in the workplace where it is collected, does not contain any personally-identifiable information.
• From the Form 300 (the Log): All collected data fields on the 300 log will generally be made available. Employee names will not be collected. In the past, OSHA has occasionally collected this data during inspections, as part of the enforcement case file, and released it in response to FOIA requests.
• From the Form 301 (Incident Report): All collected data fields on the right-hand side of the form (Fields 10 through 18) will generally be made available. OSHA currently occasionally collects the form for enforcement case files and releases this information in response to FOIA requests. The standard (Section 1904.35(b)(2)(v)(B)) prohibits employers from releasing the information in Fields 1 through 9 (the left-hand side of the form) to individuals other than the employee or former employee who suffered the injury or illness and his or her personal representatives. Similarly, OSHA will not collect or publish establishment-specific data from the left side of Form 301, including Field 1 (employee name), Field 2 (employee address), Field 6 (name of treating physician or healthcare provider), or Field 7 (name and address of nonworkplace treating facility).

So, employers that are covered by the new submission requirements not only have to worry about getting the data to OSHA in the first place, they also must worry about what the information will be used for once it is submitted.

For more information and resources to help you with recordkeeping, check out Safety.BLR.com^®.