Trump Wads Up OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule Change

Continuing his promise to roll back regulation, president Trump signed a resolution revoking an Obama-era rule to allow OSHA to issue citations for recordkeeping anomalies and errors up to 5 years old.

by, Robert Box, exclusive to Corridor News

Continuing his promise to roll back regulation, president Trump signed a resolution revoking an Obama-era rule to allow OSHA to issue citations for recordkeeping anomalies and errors up to 5 years old.

Previously, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) was only able to cite employers for recordkeeping anomalies for the previous 6 months, even though employers were required to keep injury and illness records for at least 5 years.

In December of 2016, OSHA published the new recordkeeping rule to require employers to continuously keep accurate injury and illness records for 5 years following the injury and/or illness.

OSHA said the updated rule, which took effect in January of this year, was in keeping with the original intent of the rule, but industry opponents pushed back immediately claiming the change increased administrative burdens on employers without actually improving workplace safety.

Congress quickly moved the issue through both houses in March and a resolution to remove the new rule was signed by the president on April 5th.

OSHA will still require employers to keep injury and illness records (OSHA Forms 300, 300A, etc.) for 5 years, but citations may only be issued to employers during the 6 months following a violation.

Although the agency still requires employers to keep their injury logs for five years, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) says citations can only be issued for six months following a violation, as was the decision of a federal appeals court in 2012 (AKM LLC D/B/A Volks Constructors v. Secretary of Labor, 675 F.3d 752 D.C. Cir. 2012).

This signed resolution does not affect the employer electronic filing obligations or anti-retaliation provisions in the recordkeeping rule that went into effect in January. 

Safety First Consulting is an exclusive contributor to SM Corridor News and helps businesses identify OSHA compliance issues in their workplaces, manage their safety programs, and we become accountable for the results. In addition to offering custom written safety programs for companies, Safety First Consulting provides required safety training, industrial hygiene sampling, noise sampling, and workplace inspections. You can read more from Robert Box under Business.