On January 1, 2002, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) final record-keeping rule will go into effect. It's important to note that significant changes have been made to the final revised rule from the proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register in February 1996. Here's an overview of some of the new standard's key provisions.

Form 300 (formally 200 log) – Used to classify work-related injuries and illnesses and to note the extent and severity of each case. When an accident occurs, use the log to record specific details about what happened and how it happened.

Form 300A (new) – Summary page shows the totals for the year in each category. At the end of the year, post this summary from February 1^st through April 30^th in a visible location so that your employees are aware of the injuries and illnesses occurring in their workplace.

Form 301 (formally 101 report) – Injury and illness report. Within 7 calendar days after your receive information that a recordable work-related injury or illness has occurred, you must fill out this form or an equivalent. Some state workers’ compensation, insurance, or other reports may be acceptable substitutes. To be considered an equivalent form, any substitute must contain all the information asked for on this form.

OSHA Web site – www.osha.gov – The OSHA Web site is an excellent resource for interpretive information on recordkeeping, and contains all safety and health standards for general industry and construction.

• If a company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, it does not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) informs you in writing that you must keep such records. However, all employers covered by the OSH Act must report to OSHA any workplace incident that results in a fatality or the hospitalization of three or more employees.

• Applies to establishments in the retail and services sectors only.
• Establishments in other sectors (manufacturing, transportation, wholesale, etc.) must keep OSHA logs unless exempt by size.

Under the old rule, all work-related illnesses, but not necessarily all work-related injuries, were recordable. The new standard, on the other hand, establishes a single set of recording criteria for both injuries and illnesses. Now, covered employers are only required to record fatalities, injuries, and illnesses that are all of the following:

1. Work-related
2. A new case
3. Meet one or more of the general recording criteria

An injury or illness meets the general recording criteria, and is thus recordable, if it results in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. A case also meets the general recording criteria if it involves a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional -- even if it doesn't result in death, days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.

The road to finalizing the record-keeping rule has been long and bumpy. In fact, OSHA settled a lawsuit regarding the rule with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) last month. As part of the settlement, OSHA compliance officers will initially focus on compliance assistance, rather than on enforcement. OSHA says that during the first 120 days following the effective date of the new rule, no citations will be issued for violations – as long as employers make a good faith effort to meet the recordkeeping obligations and agree to make any necessary corrections needed to bring their records into compliance.

Although the new record-keeping standard goes into effect on January 1, 2002, three provisions will be delayed for one year while OSHA reconsiders them. These are:

1. The criteria for recording work-related hearing loss.
2. The rule's definition of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).
3. The requirement that employers check the MSD column on the OSHA log (Form 300).

For more information on OSHA's new record-keeping standard, please visit

www.osha-slc.gov/recordkeeping/index.html.

Sampled from AHI’s Employment Resource Center Vol.2, No. 23.

Retrieved December 14, 2001.