OSHA Adding Workplace Injury Reporting Requirements

Firms  with more than 250 employees would be required to submit workplace injury and illness records to OSHA on a quarterly basis under a proposed rule, published in the Federal Register Nov. 8. Data these companies are already required to keep would need to be forwarded to the agency, which plans to eventually publish the it online. “Timely, establishment-specific injury and illness data will help OSHA target its compliance assistance and enforcement resources more effectively by identifying workplaces where workers are at greater risk, and enable employers to compare their injury rates with others in the same industry,” the agency wrote in a press release. OSHA is accepting comments on the proposed rule through Feb. 6, 2014, and will hold a public meeting Jan. 9 to discuss it in Washington, D.C.