Last month, the U.S .Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released the following statement:

“To protect worker privacy, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is amending the recordkeeping regulation by rescinding the requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from OSHA Forms 300 and 301. These establishments will continue to be required to maintain those records on-site, and OSHA will continue to obtain them as needed through inspections and enforcement actions. In addition to reporting required after severe injuries, establishments will continue to submit information from their Form 300A. Such submissions provide OSHA with ample data that it will continue seeking to fully utilize. In addition, OSHA is amending the recordkeeping regulation to require covered employers to submit their Employer Identification Number electronically along with their injury and illness data submission, which will facilitate use of the data and may help reduce duplicative employer reporting. Nothing in the final rule revokes an employer's duty to maintain OSHA Forms 300 and 301 for OSHA inspection. These actions together will allow OSHA to improve enforcement targeting and compliance assistance, decrease burden on employers, and protect worker privacy and safety.

By preventing routine government collection of information that may be quite sensitive, including descriptions of workers’ injuries and body parts affected, OSHA is avoiding the risk that such information might be publicly disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This rule will better protect personally identifiable information or data that could be re-identified with a particular worker by removing the requirement for covered employers to submit their information from Forms 300 and 301. The final rule does not alter an employer’s duty to maintain OSHA Forms 300 and 301 on-site, and OSHA will continue to obtain these forms as needed through inspections and enforcement actions."

The rule is only applicable to employers with 250 or more employees and only applies to the information gathered and recorded on the 300 log and the 301 form (Illness and Injury Incident Form) that accompanies each entry on the log.

This rule became effective on February 25, 2019. For more information or to determine whether this rule applies to you, call Margret Meade at 515.210.6617 or email her at mmeade@iamu.org.