Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA's has indicated in a news release that it "will continue accepting 2016 OSHA Form 300A data through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) until midnight on December 31, 2017."
Notably, OSHA will not take enforcement action against those who submit their reports after the December 15, 2017, deadline but before December 31, 2017, final entry date. "Starting January 1, 2018, the ITA will no longer accept the 2016 data."
We had previously blogged on OSHA's notice that the deadline for submitting 2016 Form 300A for establishments with 250 or more employees (or with 20-249 employees operating in what OSHA deems to be "high-risk industries") was delayed to December 15, 2017. Also included in the notice delaying the submission deadline to December 15, 2017 was an indication that OSHA "intends to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to reconsider, revise, or remove portions" of the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" rule, in 2018.
This stated intent has now been formalized through the Agency's publication of a rulemaking Agency Agenda item, RIN 1218-AD17 (December 18, 2017). The item notes that:
OSHA proposes to amend its recordkeeping regulation to remove the requirement to electronically submit to OSHA information form the OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report) for establishments with 250 or more employees which are required to routinely keep injury and illness records. Under the proposed rule, these establishments would be required to electronically submit only information from the OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). In addition, OSHA seeks comment on the costs and benefits of adding the Employer Identification Number (EIN) to the data collection to increase the likelihood that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would be able to match OSHA-collected data to BLS Survey of Occupational Injury and Illness (SOII) data and potentially reduce the burden on employers who are required to report injury and illness data both to OSHA (for the electronic recordkeeping requirement) and to BLS (for SOII).
This may further signal welcome relief from certain requirements strongly opposed by the employer community.
We will continue to monitor OSHA's activities relating to this rule.
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