OSHA proposes delay for electronic record-keeping rule compliance

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed delaying the compliance date for employers to electronically report injuries and illnesses to Dec. 1, but plans to issue a separate proposal to reconsider, revise or remove other provisions of the agency’s electronic record-keeping rule. 

The electronic reporting component of the agency’s electronic record-keeping rule was scheduled to take effect on July 1, but OSHA recently announced it would delay that requirement without specifying the date. The agency has now issued a formal proposal to delay that electronic reporting date, according to an agency press release issued on Tuesday. 

“This action proposes to extend the initial submission deadline for 2016 Form 300A data to Dec. 1, 2017, to provide the new administration an opportunity to review the new electronic reporting requirements prior to their implementation and allow affected entities sufficient time to familiarize themselves with the electronic reporting system, which will not be available until August 1,” the agency said in a notice published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.

OSHA also intends to issue a separate proposal to reconsider, revise or remove other provisions of the prior final rule, according to the notice.  

The delay will allow OSHA to provide employers the same four-month window for submitting data that the original rule, which was published in May 2016, would have provided, according to the agency. 

The proposal has been submitted in the Federal Register, with a July 13 deadline for public comments.