New OSHA Reporting Rule

A new OSHA reporting rule was published in July 2023, with new electronic obligations for employers going into effect Jan. 1, 2023.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has amended its regulations to require employers with 100 or more workers in certain industries to electronically submit information from their OSHA Forms 300 and 301 once a year.

Also, OSHA has kept in place the requirement for employers with 250 or more workers to electronically submit information from Form 300A once per year.

Employers with 20 to 249 employees in certain industries will continue to be required to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A annual summary once a year.

The idea behind the change was to improve the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.

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New OSHA Reporting Rule

Another change under the new OSHA electronic reporting rule is an update of the industries it applies to.

OSHA is updating the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes used in appendix A — which designates the industries required to submit their Form 300A data — and is adding appendix B, which designates the industries required to submit Form 300 and Form 301 data.

Also of note, the information gathered from these forms will be posted by OSHA on a public website, though information about employees will not be included.

Further details on the new injury and illness reporting requirements can be found on OSHA’s website.

OSHA officials say the data will be used to craft a more strategic approach to enforcement, hoping to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses in certain industries. And some observers believe the gathering of this information will result in additional inspections of employers with high rates of injuries and illnesses.

Meanwhile, employers will have a regular obligation to electronically report their injury and illness information to OSHA each year, rather than upon request. Each February through April, employers must post a summary of the injuries and illnesses recorded the previous year.

The data must be electronically submitted through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA). There are three ways to submit the information:

• Webform on the ITA
• Submission of a csv file to the ITA
• Use of an application programming interface (API) feed

The ITA will begin accepting 2023 injury and illness data on Jan. 2, 2024. The due date to complete the submission is March 2, 2024. The requirement is annual, and the deadline for submission of the previous year’s injury and illness data will be on March 2 of each year.

Employers can find more information on reporting on OSHA’s website.

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Employment Law Compliance

The new OSHA recordkeeping requirements highlight the compliance challenges for large organizations.

From states with hair discrimination laws to the rise of pay transparency laws, the use of AI in hiring and more, there has been a steady stream of new obligations for employers in recent years.

Meanwhile, the rise of employment law legislation in recent years seems to have led to more class-action litigation, which could be a reflection of the sheer volume of new bills introduced and passed each legislative session or a greater focus on employment laws.

More than 110 jurisdictions now have their own minimum wage law. Dozens of states, counties and cities have enacted paid leave legislation. And all these laws add up to new labor law posters, which saw a jump from 516 updates in 2021 to more than 650 in 2022.

Conclusion

Covered employers should research their OSHA reporting obligations and be prepared to post their summaries by March 2, 2024.

This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.