The Top 5 upcoming OHS regulatory events you need to know about: #3

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

It can be hard for businesses to determine which regulatory events will directly affect how they do business. That’s why I’ve put together a list of the Top 5 OHS regulatory events on the immediate horizon business leaders as well as OHS managers and staff need to know about.

Yesterday we talked about a proposed rule to add MSD to OSHA injury reporting forms. Here’s the next issue in our Top 5:

3. Changes to injury and illness recordkeeping rules:

Businesses across the U.S. are already acquainted with OSHA Form 300 logs, reports generated on a monthly and annual basis that list all work-related injuries and illnesses.

Though thousands of businesses currently maintain these records, many industries have been exempt. But since OSHA is moving from the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to the more widely used North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), many previously exempt industries will be required to report workplace injuries and illnesses in accordance with Form 300 and 300A requirements.

Additionally, employers to report work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations within eight hours of occurrence, and all work-related amputations (which don’t have to be reported currently) within 24 hours.

Stakeholders have been given until the end of September to comment, but a final rule will likely be issued before the end of the year.

Will you be required to keep OSHA 300 logs?

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

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.

OSHA offers teleconferences to small business on proposed changes to 300 Log

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

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.

Imagine: one-click OSHA Form 300 and 300A reports

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

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.