The Occupational Safety and Health Administration revised its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation in mid-May to require some employers to electronically submit injury and illness data to OSHA.
Employers are already required under OSHA rules to keep the type of data the new regulation will demand employers submit, starting Aug. 10, when parts of the rule go into effect.
To read the complete, finalized rule, click here.
Although OSHA specified that it has no plans to post information that could identify specific employees, Sam Abadir, director of product management for LockPath — a provider of governance, risk management and compliance solutions — expects many organizations will label the rule unfair, saying the information will be used out of context and will expose personal employee data.
According to Mr. Abadir, businesses should consider collecting contextual information surrounding incidents and illnesses during the incident management process.
"Businesses will likely be challenged by potentially incomplete information found in the searchable OSHA incident reports," Mr. Abadir wrote in an email to Becker's Hospital Review. "If incomplete information can be used against an organization during contract negotiations, by media sources or in lawsuits, it would be proactive for organizations to identify new risks surrounding incidents and illnesses to fill in the blanks before the public makes up its mind without all the facts."