1. Recordkeeping & Reporting: How the Revised Standard Affects Industry

2. History of the Regulations  In place since 1971  Proposed changes announced in February 1996 (“The Revision of the Injury & Illness Recordkeeping System”)  Revision announced on January 18, 2001  Final rule published in Federal Register on January 19, 2001  Final rule effective January 1, 2002

3. What are the regulatory requirements?  OSHA regulations address:  Occupational injury and illness recording  Occupational injury and illness reporting  Applicable regulations:  29 CFR 1904  29 CFR 1952

4. What is the purpose of the regulations?  Provide employers with a tool for tracking and recording workplace illnesses and injuries  Aid employers with recognizing workplace hazards and correcting hazardous conditions  Allow OSHA to track trends in safety

5. What prompted revisions to the regulations?  Industry complaints  Former recordkeeping requirements were complicated  Former recordkeeping forms were cumbersome  Confusing regulations  Former regulations included only requirements  Interpretations were found in many forms

6.  Former regulations did not include provisions for needlestick and sharps injuries  Former regulations included complicated criteria for reporting musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)  OSHA attempting to revise, update, and simplify all regulations What prompted revisions to the regulations? (continued)

7.  All employers subject to the OSH Act  Exempt from most requirements: Industries classified as low-hazard sectors  e.g., Retail, service, finance, insurance, and real estate  List revised to reflect recent industry illness/injury data.  Excluded from full reporting requirements:  Religious establishments  Household employees performing ordinary domestic tasks  Certain volunteers Who is subject to the regulations?

8.  Excluded from full reporting requirements: (continued)  Industries classified under SIC codes 52-809, except codes 52-54, 70, 75, 76, 79, and 80  Small businesses (10 or less employees)  Sheltered workshops and job training programs (unless personnel are compensated)  Stockholders (unless employed by the corporation in which they hold stock)  Self-employed persons Who is subject to the regulations? (continued)

9. Primary Improvements to the Standard  Better definition of work-related injuries  Clarified definition of restricted work  Provisions for improved employee awareness and involvement  Provides workers or their representatives access to the information on recordkeeping forms  Increases awareness of potential hazards in the workplace  Provisions for employee privacy

10. Primary Improvements to the Standard (continued)  “Plain English” wording  Question and answer format  Inclusion of checklists and flowcharts  Inclusion of interpretations as well as requirements  Simpler forms  Flexibility for using computers to meet requirements

11. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule  Updated recordkeeping forms  OSHA Form 300: Log of Work-related Injuries and Illnesses  Replaces Form 200: Log and Summary of Occupational Injuries & Illnesses  Simplified reporting requirements  Printed on smaller legal sized paper

12. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Updated recordkeeping forms (continued)  OSHA Form 301: Injury and Illness Incident Report  Replaces Form 101: Supplementary Record of Occupational Injuries & Illnesses  Includes more data about how injury or illness occurred  OSHA Form 300A: Summary of Work-related Injuries and Illnesses (easier calculation of incident rates)

13. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Eliminates different criteria for recording work-related injuries and work-related illnesses  New rule uses one set of criteria for injuries and illnesses.  Former rule required employers to record all illnesses, regardless of severity.  New rule accounts for severity of illness.

14. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Requires records to include any work- related injury or illness resulting in:  Death  Days away from work  Restricted work or transfer to another job  Medical treatment beyond first aid  Loss of Consciousness  Diagnosis of a significant injury/illness by licensed health care professional Note: Exposures in and of themselves are not recordable.

15. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Includes new definitions to simplify recording decisions  Medical treatment  First aid  Restricted work

16. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Requires a significant degree of work- related aggravation before a pre-existing injury or illness becomes recordable  Includes separate provisions describing recording criteria for cases involving work-related transmission of tuberculosis

17. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Add additional exemptions to the definition of work-relationship  Limits recording of cases involving eating/drinking food beverages  Limits recording of common colds and flu  Limits recording of blood donations  Limits recording of exercise programs  Limits recording of mental illness

18. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Clarifies recording of “light duty” or “restricted work” cases  Requires employers to record cases when injured/ill employee is restricted from normal duties  Defines normal duties: duties the employee performs at least once weekly

19. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Conforms with new ergonomics standard  Requires employees to record all needlestick and sharps injuries involving contamination by another person’s blood or body fluids  Applies same recording criteria to MSDs as to all other injuries and illnesses  Revised recordkeeping forms have separate column for recording MSDs  Employers retain flexibility to determine whether an event or exposure in work environment caused or contributed to MSD

20. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Requires employers to record standard threshold shifts (STS) in employees’ hearing  Defines STS: an adverse change in an employee’s hearing threshold, relative to his/her most recent audiogram  Requires recording hearing loss cases at 10 dB shift, rather than 25 dB shift  Provides a separate column on Form 300 to capture statistics on hearing loss

21. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Changes regarding lost/restricted work  Change in terminology  Eliminates “lost workdays”  Focuses on “days away” or “days restricted or transferred”  Includes new regulations for counting days  Rely on calendar days instead of workdays

22. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Changes to employer requirements  Employers must establish procedure for employees to report injuries and illnesses  Employers must tell employees how to report  Employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees who report  With change of ownership, seller must turn over OSHA records to buyer

23. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Changes to employee rights  Privacy rights  Prohibits employers from entering an individual employee’s name on Form 300 for certain types of injuries/illnesses  Sexual assaults  HIV infections  Mental illness

24. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Changes to employee rights (continued)  Privacy rights  Provides employers the right not to describe the nature of sensitive injuries where the employee’s identity would be known  Gives employee access to portions of Form 301 relevant to the employee they represent  Requires employers to remove employees’ names before providing data to persons not provided access under the rule

25. Summary of Key Provisions to New Recordkeeping Rule (continued)  Requires the annual summary to be posted for three months (Feb. 1 to April 30) instead of one  Requires certification of annual summary by a company executive  Changes reporting of fatalities and catastrophes to exclude some motor carrier and motor vehicle incidents  Allows all forms to be kept on computer equipment or at alternate location

26. General Impact of Changes  Final rule anticipated to impact approximately 1.3 million establishments  Some changes will increase number of recordable cases; some will decrease number  OSHA anticipates roughly same number of reported injuries/illnesses  Newly exempt industries will experience reduced costs

27. General Impact of Changes (continued)  Newly covered industries will experience additional costs and benefits  Must learn new requirements  Must revise computer systems used for recordkeeping

28. Areas of Potential Cost Savings  Form 300: Less time to complete simpler forms  Exemptions from the requirement to consider certain cases work-related (will result in less cases being recorded)  Elimination of different recording criteria for injuries and illnesses (will result in less cases being recorded)

29. Areas of Potential Cost Savings (continued)  Changes to the requirements for recording illnesses and injuries with days away or job restriction/job transfer (will result in less cases being recorded)  Changes to the criteria for recording cases of tuberculosis (will result in less cases being recorded)  Changes to the criteria for recording fatality/catastrophe incidents (will result in less cases being recorded)

30. Areas of Potential Cost Savings (continued)  Elimination of separate recording criteria for MSDs (will result in less cases being recorded)  Improvement in determining recordability of illness/injury  Allowance of computerized and centralized records

31. Areas of Potential Cost Increases  Form 300A  Requires increased employer review of data and additional data on the average employment/hours worked at establishment  Changes result in higher quality data, but more time and cost to employer  Changes to the definitions of medical treatment and first aid (will result in more cases being recorded)

32. Areas of Potential Cost Increases (continued)  Change to the criteria for recording cases of hearing loss (will result in more cases being recorded)  Change to the criteria for recording needlestick and sharps injury (will result in more cases being recorded)  Increased employee involvement  Employee privacy protections

33. Benefits of the Revised Regulations  More accurate data regarding occupational illnesses and injuries  Simplified overall recordkeeping systems for employers  Better protection for employees’ privacy “The revision… will not lessen an employer’s recordkeeping responsibilities, but it will make it easier to successfully meet the requirements.” — Sec. of Labor, Alexis Herman

34. Resources for Additional Information  Web site: www.osha.gov  OSHA Region IV (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi): 404-562-2300  29 CFR 1904: Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements  “The Blue Book”: Recordkeeping Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses  Available from OSHA  Last updated in 1991