OSHA proposes revising recordkeeping rules
Changes being proposed for OSHA`s 19 CFR 1904 sections 200 and 201 logs will have a far-reaching impact on employers, employees, and worksites across the nation, predicts Michael Jay Fagel, deputy fire commissioner of the North Aurora (IL) Fire Department and certified hazard control manager for New City Packing Company and Aurora Packing Company in North Aurora. He, therefore, urges members of the fire service to review the proposals or speak with staff members who deal with the issues to get their input; contact their workers` compensation carriers, claims managers, and other practitioners in the field; and submit their comments on the proposals by the May 2, 1996 deadline (must be postmarked by May 2).
The overall proposal, Fagel explains, is encompassing and constitutes some 40 pages in the Federal Register (February 2, 1996, Vol. 61:23, pp. 4029-4067). Under the proposed OSHA 300 (which replaces OSHA 200), cases will be grouped into three classes: Deaths, Cases with days away from work, and Cases without days away from work.
The new OSHA 301 (formerly 201) would require information on the health- care provider, activities in progress at the time of the occurrence, and more specific data on the event. Sites that will control construction employees will be required to keep two sets of records–one for their employees and one for subcontractors.
OSHA`s goals in making the revisions are to simplify the rules, improve the quality of records, improve access for workers, minimize the burden for the regulated community, reduce gray areas, give clear guidance, and promote the use of data in workplace safety and health programs, Fagel explains.
Among the proposals are the following:
A responsible official must sign the document under severe penalties for inaccuracies.
Issues dealing with work relatedness, travel status, and home-based workers will be revised.
A list of conditions that are to be recorded as medical conditions will be included.
The definition of restricted work cases has been changed.
The “days away” count will be capped at 180 days. Counting will include elements such as weekends, holidays, and prescheduled vacations.
The annual log summary would be posted year round instead of in February of each year, as under the current requirement.
Employers, former employees, and designated representatives would be able to access the entire OSHA 300 and 301 records the next day, and access will be to a far broader scope of the individual medical records than now allowed.
OSHA, Fagel says, is asking the input of the fire service especially with regard to the following areas:
exemptions to coverage, work relationship/severity issues, first aid/medical treatment, restricted work activity,
musculoskeletal disorders, employers` reluctance to record cases, employee involvement, access/privacy, and software for recordkeeping.
Clarification of the various proposals may be obtained from Steve Newell, OSHA`s director of the Office of Statistics program, who has been working on the project for some time. He may be reached at (202) 219-6463.
Comments on the proposals may be sent to OSHA Docket Office, Recordkeeping Rule, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N-2625, Washington, DC 20210. The deadline, again, is May 2, 1996.
