New OSHA Rules on Injury Recordkeeping and Reporting Go Into Effect Jan. 1

OSHA last week published a final rule amending its workplace injury and illness recordkeeping regulation to require certain employers to electronically submit additional injury and illness information annually.

The main change is the requirement that companies with more than 100 employees in certain industries submit information from OSHA Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, and Form 301, Injury and Illness Incident Report, to OSHA on an annual basis.

The requirement does not cover all of construction but does include some sectors that home builders rely on, like foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors, and manufacturers of many building materials.

These new requirements will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, and the required data from the previous year must be submitted to OSHA by March 2.

Companies with 20 to 249 employees in certain industries, including construction, will continue to be required to electronically submit information from their OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, to the agency once a year.

In addition to the new reporting requirements, OSHA intends to post some of the data from these annual electronic submissions on a public website.

NAHB and other construction trade associations strongly opposed the plan to publish the workplace illness and injury data. NAHB noted in comments during the rulemaking process that “the publication of establishment-specific injury and illness data would lead to misuse of confidential information by the public and special interest groups.” The Associated General Contractors of America also noted in its comments that the plan, “could result in the potential mischaracterization of a contractor’s safety and health program in the absence of proper context.”