Many businesses across the U.S. are well-acquainted with OSHA Form 300 logs, reports generated on a monthly (300) and annual (300A) basis that list all work-related injuries and illnesses.

While hundreds of thousands of businesses are currently bound to report, there is a long list of industries that have been exempt from reporting.

But all that is poised to change.

If a proposed rulemaking becomes law, many previously exempt industries will be required to report workplace injuries and illnesses in accordance with Form 300 and 300A requirements. Dozens of industries (including bakeries, automotive dealers, performing arts companies, and many more) would be affected by the expanded regulation. That said, some organizations that have previously been required to report may not have to. Check out the highly useful OSHA Law Blog for a complete list.

While completing these logs can be a tedious, time-consuming process with a lot of paperwork, well-prepared companies that have implemented a streamlined, electronic safety management system will find that complete, accurate Form 300 reports are just a click away.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is planning changes that would affect how businesses track and report on workplace injuries.

The proposed revisions to injury and illness recordkeeping rules would require employers to report work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations within eight hours of occurrence, and all work-related amputations within 24 hours. Reporting amputations is not required under the existing regulation.

Also, the rule would update the section of OSHA’s recordkeeping rule that list industries exempt from injury and illness reporting requirements. Currently, some industries aren’t required to report due to their relatively low injury and illness rates. However, these industries are currently classified under the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, not the more widely used North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The proposed rule would update the list to reflect NAICS classification, as well as more current Injury and Illness rates and, as a result, some industries formerly exempt from injury and illness reporting requirements might have to report when the rule is issued, including liquor stores, bakeries, auto parts stores, and more. In fact, OSHA estimates nearly 200,000 establishments will be affected by the changes.

However, these rules are by no means set in stone. The public has until September 20, 2011 to provide feedback. Head to regulations.gov to find the proposed rule and submit comments.

In the meantime, if you are not currently tracking and reporting on injury and illness data electronically, now is the time to start. A streamlined solution will significantly ease the burden of reporting in a timely, accurate and legally compliant manner, and make adjusting to these changes much easier.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is looking for your feedback on plans to alter the 300 Log, a form containing details on workplace injuries and illnesses that must be completed by most U.S. businesses on a regular basis.

OSHA wants to restore a column to the log that would require employers to enter details on work-related muscoskeletal disorders (MSD).

Some opponents of the proposal to restore the column have complained that it is actually an attempt to revive an ergonomics standard that was repealed a decade ago. Before then, OSHA’s injury and illness log contained one column that lumped MSDs together with hearing. OSHA had planned on separating the two into separate columns, but the MSD column was removed altogether by 2003. Opponents also claim the new column might place an unnecessary burden on small businesses.

OSHA head Dr. David Michaels has insisted most small businesses won’t need to update the log, and only employers already mandated to maintain injury and illness records would need to track work-related MSDs in the 300 Log. To clear up any confusion, and to help small businesses better understand the proposal, OSHA is offering three teleconferences on the MSD proposal. The teleconferences are slated for:

• Monday, April 11 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
• Tuesday, April 12 at 9 a.m. EDT.
• Tuesday, April 12 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

In addition to providing information on the proposed change, OSHA wants participants to discuss their experience in recording work-related MSDs and how they believe the proposed rule would affect them. Take a look at the proposed MSD resordkeeping rule here.

Contact Regina Powers by April 4 if you or someone from your organization would like to participate, and stay tuned to the Intelex blog for more information on OSHA’s plans for the 300 Log, as well as tips on how to make the often onerous 300 Log generation process effortless.

Most organizations waste days upon days preparing requisite safety incident logs, pushing and pulling data from paper-based forms, spreadsheets, and other siloed software products.

A robust electronic safety incident reporting process, however, will include configurable reporting tools that enable organizations to generate reports based on customized templates that address all safety reporting requirements. By ensuring the timely, accurate and comprehensive creation of required reports, and organization can eliminate the risk of facing substantial fines imposed by regulatory bodies as a result of poor reporting.

For example U.S. companies must generate and post OSHA incident reports on a monthly and annual basis. These reports must contain information such as how many people were injured, how many days away resulted from incidents, how many incidents were recordable, where the incidents occurred, as well as other details.

A streamlined incident reporting solution allows safety personnel to generate automatically populated OSHA Form 300 and 300A reports with the click of a button. Compared to the time and effort associated with the manual generation of these reports, safety personnel are poised to spend literally minutes instead of days on monthly reports, and hours instead of weeks on annual reports.

This was a big year for safety in the news. Between mine disasters, new food safety rules, and widespread recalls, there was no shortage of safety-related headlines. Here’s a rundown of the Top 5 Safety Stories of 2010, in no particular order:

U.S. Food Safety Modernization

As a usually unproductive lame-duck session of U.S. Congress came to a close with an unusually productive string of new legislation. Chief among U.S. lawmakers’ achievements was the passing of the Food Safety Modernization Act, a bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to increase the frequency of inspections, target high-risk sites, recall tainted foods, boost oversight of farms, better trace food-borne illnesses to their source, and more. The bill marks the first significant changes to food safety in the U.S. in nearly 75 years.

Mine Disasters and Chilean Mine Rescue

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in April results in the death of 29 miners after an explosion at the West Virginia coal mine. The accident was the worst mining tragedy in the U.S. in four decades. In the aftermath of the disaster, Democrats reveal the framework of a new bill to tighten mine safety and increase penalties for mines with a record of repeated safety violations.

Also, in addition to tragic mine disasters in New Zealand, China and other parts of the world, an early-August collapse of the San José copper-gold mine near Copiapó, Chile leaves 33 miners trapped 700 feet underground for 69 days, before all were successfully rescued in that captivated the world. The accident prompts the Chilean government to initiate a major overhaul of the country’s mining agency.

Tainted Eggs and Other Recalls

More than 1,000 Americans fall ill as a result of salmonella-contaminated eggs produced by two Iowa farms. The outbreak results in the recall of 380 million eggs. In addition to another recall of nearly 300,000 eggs in November, other large recalls tackle E.coli in hamburger patties and cookie dough, salmonella in peanut butter and ground beef, and mouldy, musty painkillers and cold medications.

Alberta Safety Crackdown

The provincial government of Alberta, Canada announces a series of safety initiatives designed to help the province shed its reputation for lax safety enforcement and position it as a continental leader in safety performance. Initiatives in the 10-point plan include measures for all companies to post mandatory safety records online, updated compliance and enforcement procedures, and weekend and evening worksite inspections.

Charges in Toronto Christmas Eve Scaffolding Deaths

Toronto police arrest three men in connection with the tragic 2009 Christmas Eve deaths of three construction workers who were undergoing repair and restoration work on a swing stage at the 13th floor of a residential building in the city when the platform broke in two and four of the men plummeted to their deaths while another suffered life-threatening injuries. The men charged are high-ranking members of the company at the centre of the accident and, if proven guilty, could face life in prison for criminal negligence.

When you clean your house thoroughly from top to bottom, doesn’t a part of you kind of wish company would drop by unexpectedly?

Can you imagine actually looking forward to a surprise OSHA inspection?

It’s easier than you think, but just as maintaining a clean house takes sustained effort, you’ll have to make thorough safety management a part of your day-to-day regime. The following tips will help you prepare for and even embrace surprise inspections:

Know Thyself: It is critical to track all safety-related information and to maintain detailed documentation on your organization’s safety record. Also, note which industry category your business falls within and whether your sector is considered high-risk. The risk factor associated with your industry is directly related to the chance OSHA inspectors will come calling.

Know your Rights: While a mutually respectful relationship between safety staff and Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHO) should be maintained during any inspection, it is also important to know that you have rights. When a CSHO arrives, politely ask him or her for their credentials. Ask why they are visiting your worksite, and if it is a complaint-related matter, ask to see the complaint. Also, don’t hesitate to ask for time to get your team in order, and to prepare whoever will be assigned to accompany the inspector around your site. Don’t use this time to scramble to cover up any safety-related gaps. Use it to ensure a smooth, seamless inspection and to remind union reps that they are entitled to be present when an inspector requests to speak with any employee one-on-one.

Lose the ‘Us vs. Them’ Mentality: Your relationship with your inspector should not be adversarial. CSHOs are really just doing their job, and their goal is safety, not citations. Above and beyond maintaining a cooperative attitude during inspections, consider proactively getting to know your local OSHA office on an ongoing basis by dropping by and even calling for advice on safety issues.

Safety is a State of Being: Safety management should be a perpetual, cyclical state of ongoing compliance and continual improvement in safety performance. Checklists, dashboards, scorecards, and reports are critical tools that ease the burden of monitoring compliance with hundreds of safety requirements. Also, a software-based safety management system is capable of reaching out to the user through automatic email notifications to proactively ensure any safety gaps are addressed before they become a concern.

Some other tips:

• Kill the clutter: It sounds simple, but a safe worksite is a clean, clutter-free worksite. Take a regular walk around your premise. Are hallways and workspaces free and clear of obstacles and other hazards? 
• Document like it’s going out of style: As anyone who’s fought a court case knows, the value of documentation is enormous. From minor to major safety incidents to near-misses, documents absolutely every safety-related issue that arises.
• Safety compliance as a job requirement: Consider throwing a line into offer letters and job descriptions that denotes a commitment to safety compliance is a job requirement for every employee. Alternatively, have existing employees sign waivers expressing the fact.

If you'd like more information, this article (though a decade old) is a great guide to inspections and most of its information is up to date. Also, don't forget to review the OSHA FAQ to get acquainted with your rights, employee rights, and other interesting safety-related facts.

So, you’re meeting the status quo and passing your safety inspections. That’s great, but it’s no reason to let your safety program stagnate. Why not aim a little higher?

While a no-accident policy is definitely a noble goal and achievable in some industries, it is important to set realistic yet demanding goals. OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) is a great way to start.

VPP essentially recognizes worksites that have gone above and beyond in their health and safety efforts by implementing top-of-the-line safety management systems. Sites awarded by the program are considered exemplary leaders in safety performance and are eligible to receive one of three rankings:

• Star: The highest level of recognition, the Star Program recognizes sites that have achieved injury and illness rates at or below their industry’s average, self-sufficiently control workplace hazards, and boast the most robust, comprehensive safety management programs.
• Merit: Merit sites are on the road to becoming Star-recognized, but need to boost health and safety performance to be considered excellent.
• Star Demonstration: This designation is reserved for worksites that address unique, often sector-specific health and safety concerns and issues.

Many employers might wonder why they ought to exceed basic health and safety requirements and seek recognition through the program. There are many reasons, all of which will contribute to any organization’s social and economic bottom lines:

• Fewer Accidents: On average VPP participants see at least 50 per cent fewer accidents on an annual basis and a Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) case rate of 52 per cent below the average for their industry.
• Increased Productivity and Efficiency: Fewer accidents mean less downtime and a more effective, efficient use of your human capital.
• Reduced Insurance Rates: As your company or worksite demonstrates superior safety performance and encounters fewer or no fatalities or accidents, annual insurance rates will plummet.
• Attract and Retain Talent: Not only will existing employee morale get a boost from your exemplary safety record, being VPP Star-recognized will help your company attract top industry talent who will be lured by your commitment to safety.
• Marketing and Brand Equity: With fewer or no accidents, injuries, fines and fatalities, VPP recognition can ultimately be leveraged with marketing campaigns to boost brand image and attract high-calibre customers.
  

Achieving VPP recognition is demanding, but completely realistic if a worksite has implemented a robust, streamlined software-based safety management system.

To learn more about VPP or join the program, contact OSHA’s Office of Partnerships and Recognition at (202) 693-2213 (or the VPP Manager at your OSHA Regional Office). Read all about VPP here.

Here's an update from the ASSE Safety Conference...

Live from the ASSE Safety 2010 conference in Baltimore, MD!  Intelex has been having a great time at the show meeting many new people and connecting with the numerous Intelex clients who are attending. 

We had a fantastic time hosting a little after-show meet and greet on Monday night, attended by a number of potential and current clients.  We tried some local brews, chatted about the software and got to know each other a little better. 

The show continues through the end of June 15th, so feel free to swing by the Intelex booth and meet with Jason Fitzpatrick and Kyle Dodsworth.

To find out more about Intelex's solutions for Safety Management have a look through our products pages or give us a call at 1-877-932-3747.

The trick is buying the right solution. Of course we here at Intelex are biased, since we offer the best solution. But we’ve recently released a White Paper geared towards helping your organization find thesoftware fit that is right for you.

“An Insider’s Guide to Buying Safety Management Software in the New Economy” is a great starting point for safety managers and any other safety personnel at any organization considering streamlining their safety management system.

The paper shows how the right software solution will result in fewer injuries and accidents, fewer resultant insurance claims, greater efficiency for safety personnel and, most importantly, more money in your company’s pockets.