OSHA Again Delays Effective Date for Portion of New Injury/Illness Tracking Rule

In mid-May, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized a rule to change the process and timeline for record keeping and reporting of annual injuries and illnesses at the workplace. However, there is also a second portion of the new rule stating, "The rule also prohibits employers from discouraging workers from reporting an injury or illness." The final rule requires employers to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation; clarifies the existing implicit requirement that an employer’s procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and not deter or discourage employees from reporting; and incorporates the existing statutory prohibition on retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses."

 

This "anti-retaliation" provision, as OSHA has labeled it, originally held an effective date of August 10; however, in order to coordinate more "outreach to the regulated community" about the provision, the effective date was pushed to November 1. Now, OSHA pushed the effective date back to December 1.