Today OSHA announced that it will delay the electronic submission requirements for employers covered by the recordkeeping requirements in Section 1904 until December 15, 2017.  Last year OSHA finalized its  Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses regulation, which established new requirements for certain employers to electronically submit their injury and illness recordkeeping forms via a secure website.  Specifically, employers covered by OSHA’s recordkeeing requirements must either file their 300A or their 300A, 300 Log and 301 Forms depending on the establishment size and other criteria.

The submission deadline was originally July 1, 2017, however, OSHA proposed to delay the date until December 1, 2017 to give employers additional time to become familiar with the portal, known as the Injury Tracking Application or ITA. Today, OSHA announced it would delay the submission deadline until December 15, 2017 giving employers an additional 14 days.

According to OSHA’s news release,

Unless an employer is under federal jurisdiction, the following OSHA-approved State Plans have not yet adopted the requirement to submit injury and illness reports electronically: California, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Establishments in these states are not currently required to submit their summary data through the ITA. Similarly, state and local government establishments in Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, and New York are not currently required to submit their data through the ITA.

Further OSHA noted that it is currently reviewing the regulation for other potential revisions.

OSHA is currently reviewing the other provisions of its final rule to Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, and intends to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to reconsider, revise, or remove portions of that rule in 2018.

It is anticipated that OSHA will proposal additional changes to this rule in the near future and OSHA will issue another Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register next year.