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proposal to restore the column have complained that it is actually an attempt to revive an ergonomics standard that was repealed a decade ago.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.
