Are You Ready to Electronically Report Injuries and Illnesses to OSHA?

December 1, 2017 is the deadline for certain employers to use the Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s (OSHA) Injury Tracking Application (ITA) portal to report information from their 2016 Form 300A regarding employee illnesses and injuries. We previously reported (Breach Forces OSHA to Shut Down Reporting Portal) that OSHA suspended employer reporting through the ITA portal in August due to a possible security breach; however, the ITA portal is currently open for reporting.

OSHA announced that it is considering a proposed rule to modify the final rule on tracking and reporting illnesses, which could change some aspects of electronic reporting. Key topics for consideration include not making the reports public and eliminating the rule’s anti-retaliation provisions. At this point, however, there is no timeline for rule changes or any indication that electronic reporting will not be enforced beginning on December 1.

With just over a month before the reporting deadline, impacted employers are encouraged to review electronic reporting requirements in order to complete the online reporting process on time. Here is a summary of requirements:

Who must comply with the December 1, 2017 deadline

• Most establishments with 250 or more employees that are currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records.
• Employers with 20-249 employees from certain industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries (high-risk industries) and illnesses.

States exempt from electronic reporting

Some states with OSHA-approved state plans have not yet adopted a requirement that illness and injury reports be submitted electronically. Establishments in the following states are currently not required to submit their reports using the ITA portal:

• California
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• South Carolina
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming

Establishments in these states may contact their state plan for more information about reporting requirements.

State and local governments exempt from electronic reporting

State and local government establishments in the following states with OSHA-approved state programs have not adopted OSHA’s final rule requiring electronic reporting of illness and injury and are not required to submit their reports through the electronic portal:

• Illinois
• Maine
• New Jersey
• New York

How to submit data and get help

OSHA’s ITA portal offers three options for submitting data. Employers can:

• Manually enter data on the site;
• Upload a comma separated values (CSV) file; or
• Transmit records electronically from an automated recordkeeping system using an application programming interface (API).

OSHA offers instructions for both the CSV and API processes as well as frequently asked questions related to the reporting process.

How long submission takes

For employers with 20-249 employees who are required to report, OHSA estimates that it will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the reporting process.

For employers with 250 or more employees, OSHA estimates it will take 32 minutes to complete the reporting process.

Additional reporting requirements will be rolled out over the next two years for impacted employers.

_{Originally Published By ThinkHR.com}