In a news release issued today, OSHA notified employers in state plans that they must submit their injury and illness data through OSHA’s portal even if their state has not yet adopted the new requirements of the “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” regulation. According to OSHA,

“[the agency] determined that Section 18(c)(7) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and relevant OSHA regulations pertaining to State Plans, require all affected employers to submit injury and illness data in the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) online portal, even if the employer is covered by a State Plan that has not completed adoption of their own state rule.”

OSHA had previously required only employers in state plans that had adopted the new requirements of the regulation to submit their data to OSHA.  The news release went on to say,

An employer covered by a State Plan that has not completed adoption of a state rule must provide Form 300A data for Calendar Year 2017.  Employers are required to submit their data by July 1, 2018. There will be no retroactive requirement for employers covered by State Plans that have not adopted a state rule to submit data for Calendar Year 2016.

Further, OSHA has clarified that all covered employers are only required to submit their 2017 300A form by July 1, 2018.  The regulation, as promulgated, required those employers with 250 or more employees at each establishment to submit all their injury and illness recordkeeping forms –  300A, 300 Log and corresponding 301 Forms – by July 1, 2018 through the ITA online portal.   OSHA announced that the only data that employers are required to submit is the 2017 300A Form, this is for federal jurisdiction and state plans, irrespective of whether the state has adopted the new regulation.

OSHA’s ITA website has the following announcement:

Covered establishments with 250 or more employees are only required to provide their 2017 Form 300A summary data. OSHA is not accepting Form 300 and 301 information at this time. OSHA announced that it will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to reconsider, revise, or remove provisions of the “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” final rule, including the collection of the Forms 300/301 data. The Agency is currently drafting that NPRM and will seek comment on those provisions.

We anticipate that OSHA will revise the requirements for employers with 250 or more employees per establismment and simply require all covered employers to submit their 300A Form to OSHA on an annual basis.