OSHA extends deadline for electronic injury, illness reports to Dec. 15
By: Gloria Gonzalez, Business Insurance, November 2017
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has again extended the deadline for employers to electronically submit injury and illness data — this time to Dec. 15 — and said it would publish a final rule reviewing other provisions of the electronic record-keeping regulation in 2018.
The Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule, as the rule is formally known, requires certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness data they already are required to record via their on-site OSHA injury and illness forms. Establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the record-keeping regulation — as well as those with 20 to 249 employees in high-risk industries such as agriculture, forestry, construction and manufacturing — must submit information on their injuries and illnesses.
The electronic reporting deadline was set for Dec. 1 after being postponed multiple times, but the agency decided to implement another two-week delay to give affected employers additional time to become familiar with the new electronic reporting system launched on Aug. 1, according to a U.S. Department of Labor statement issued on Wednesday.
OSHA is currently reviewing the other provisions of its final rule and intends to publish a notice of proposed rule-making to reconsider, revise or remove portions of that rule in 2018, according to the statement.
