OSHA issues rule to continue recordkeeping

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) wants to continue its history of recordkeeping regulations.

The agency issued a final rule clarifying an employer’s continuing obligation to make and maintain an accurate record of each recordable injury and illness. The final rule will not add new compliance obligations and does not require employers to make records of any injuries or illnesses for which records are not already required. It will take effect Jan. 18.

“This rule simply returns us to the standard practice of the last 40 years,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels, PhD, MPH in a press release. “It is important to keep in mind that accurate records are not just paperwork; they have a valuable and potentially life-saving purpose.”

OSHA’s longstanding position has been that it’s an employer’s duty to record any injury or illness continues for the full five-year record-retention period, a position that has been upheld by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission since 1993. In 2012, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision in AKM LLC v. Secretary of Labor (Volks) reversing the Commission.

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.