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U.S. Department of Labor | | ||||
| Occupational Safety & Health Administration | ||||||
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Recordkeeping Highlights
Presentation Script Slide 1 - OSHA Recordkeeping  This program discusses the provisions of OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule and incorporates the following changes effective January 1, 2004:
Note to Presenter: Prior to the presentation, it is suggested that presenters review the latest information on the recordkeeping rule, which will be posted on OSHA's website, http://www.osha.gov/index.html. In addition, presenters should print copies of OSHA's main Recordkeeping page as a handout to inform audience members of the latest information available on the website. Note to Presenter: States that operate their own job safety and health programs have adopted comparable recordkeeping regulations that are also effective January 1, 2002. States must have the same requirements for which injuries and illnesses are recordable and how they are recorded. Other provisions may be different as long as they are as stringent as the Federal requirements. Employers in some state plan states may be subject to more stringent reporting requirements (e.g., California requires every case of "serious injury or illness" to be reported). Note to Presenter: Provide handout on Partially Exempt Industries Script: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a new, improved set of rules for recordkeeping. This presentation presents a summary of some of the key provisions of the new rule. It also highlights the major changes from OSHA's former recordkeeping regulation. While this presentation does not describe the new regulation in detail, it is intended to focus on the improvements in the rule and provide an overview of the new requirements. OSHA's new recordkeeping rule, 29 CFR 1904, took effect on January 1, 2002 and affects 1.4 million establishments in the United States. Like the former rule, employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt from most requirements of the new rule, as are establishments classified in a number of industries in the low hazard retail, service, finance, insurance and real estate sectors. The new rule updates the list of exempted industries to reflect recent industry data. However, all employers covered by the OSH Act must continue to report any workplace incident resulting in a fatality or the hospitalization of three or more employees. Slide 2 - Benefits of the Rule  Script: The major goal of the recordkeeping revision is to improve the quality of workplace injury and illness records. Improves employee involvement: The rule promotes improved employee awareness and involvement in the recordkeeping process, providing workers and their representatives access to the information on recordkeeping forms and increasing awareness of potential hazards in the workplace. Privacy concerns of employees have also been addressed; the former rule had no privacy protections covering the log used to record work-related injuries and illnesses. Creates simpler forms: The new forms - the OSHA 300 Log, the OSHA 301, Injury and Illness Incident Report, and the OSHA 300A Summary - include formatting and editorial changes that simplify the forms, make them easier to understand and complete, and facilitate use of the data. The forms have been incorporated into an information package that provides individual employers with several copies of each form; general instructions for completing them; definitions of key terms; an example showing how to fill out the 300 Log; and instructions telling employers how to obtain additional assistance from OSHA. [Note: Forms for Calendar Year (CY) 2002 and 2003, as well as the revised forms package for CY 2004 and beyond are available on OSHA's Website.] Provides clearer regulatory requirements: The new rule is written in plain language using a question and answer format. For the first time, a flowchart and tables are included to provide easier interpretations of recordkeeping requirements. Increases employers' flexibility to use computers: The final rule makes clear that employers are permitted to record the required information on electronic media, provided the electronic records are equivalent to the OSHA forms. This provision allows employers to take full advantage of modern technology and computers to meet their recordkeeping obligations. Slide 3 - Forms  Note to Presenter: Provide OSHA forms package effective January 1, 2004 or individual OSHA forms 300, 301, and 300A so that audience members can see the detail of the forms referred to in the following slides. Script: Now, let's talk about the recordkeeping forms. OSHA has put the forms employers need to use into a "forms package" that includes enough copies of the forms to last for three years for a typical small business. The package also includes instructions and examples, a worksheet to help the company compute its injury and illness rates, a worksheet to help the employer complete the summary, and information about where to get assistance. OSHA's Form 300, the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, replaces the OSHA 200 form. The Log presents information on injuries and illnesses in a condensed format. It has been simplified and printed on smaller, legal size paper. The 301 form replaces the former OSHA 101 form. This form is the individual record of each work-related injury or illness recorded on the 300 form. It includes more data about how the injury or illness occurred. Form 300A is the summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. This is the form that is posted every year. It replaces the summary portion of the former OSHA 200 Log and is now a separate form, updated to make it easier to calculate incidence rates. Slide 4 - Form 300  Script: The 300 Log is simpler and smaller. It now fits on legal-size paper, so you can download it directly from OSHA's website and print it in your office. The log can be maintained on a computer or at another location, as long as a copy can be produced at the workplace when it's needed. The major change to the January 1, 2004 revised Form 300, Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, is the addition of an occupational hearing loss column. Other changes include:
Employers must begin to use the new OSHA Form 300 on January 1, 2004. The new form has the date of revision (rev. 1/2004) located on the form next to the form number. Injuries and illnesses for years prior to 2004 should continue to be recorded on the appropriate form for that year (i.e., 2003 and 2002 injuries and illnesses should be recorded on the forms for those years). Slide 5 - Form 301  Script: The final OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report allows space for employers to provide more detailed information about the affected worker, the injury or illness, the workplace factors associated with the accident, and a brief description of how the injury or illness occurred. Many employers use an equivalent workers' compensation form or internal reporting form for the purpose of recording more detailed information on each case. It's perfectly okay to do this. The OSHA form 301 differs in several ways from the former OSHA 101. The form has been reworded and reformatted for clarity. The new form eliminates redundant data and adds several items that will provide important information regarding the occurrence of occupational injuries and illnesses. New questions relate to: the date the employee was hired, the time the employee began work, the time of the event, and whether the employee was treated at an emergency room or hospitalized overnight. Slide 6 - OSHA Form 300A  Script: Form 300A is used to summarize the entries from the Form 300 Log at the end of the year and is then posted from February 1 through April 30 of the following year. Posting makes employees aware of the occupational injury and illness experience of the establishment in which they work. The form contains space for entries for each of the columns from the Form 300, along with information about the establishment. It also includes the average number of employees who worked there the previous year and total hours worked by all employees. Certification of the accuracy of the recorded data by a company executive is required. Note: The new 300A form that includes the hearing loss column should be used to post in February 2005. Slide 7 - Recording Criteria  Script: The final rule mandates that each employer who is required to keep records must record every fatality, injury or illness that is work-related, is a new case, and meets one of the recording criteria found in the regulation. The different criteria for recording injuries and illnesses have been eliminated. The same requirements now apply to both injuries and illnesses, which will result in fewer minor illnesses being recorded. Slide 8 - Recording Criteria Decision Tree  Note to Presenter: Provide handout on Decision Tree for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. Script: The regulation contains a table that points employers and their recordkeepers to the various sections of the rule that determine which work-related injuries and illnesses are to be recorded. In addition, a decision tree, or flowchart, is provided that shows the steps involved in determining whether or not a particular case must be recorded. Slide 9 - Work-Relatedness  Script: The concepts of work-relatedness are very similar to the old rule. The difference is that the directions from the 1986 Guidelines are now in the regulatory text, and the requirements for workplace aggravation of a non-work injury have been changed. Previously, any amount of aggravation was considered sufficient for recording purposes. Now, the amount of aggravation must be significant or non-minor. This decision is consistent with OSHA's efforts to require recording only of non-minor injuries and illnesses. Significant aggravation of a pre-existing condition occurs when an event or exposure in the work environment causes the injury or illness to result in greater consequences, including: - death - loss of consciousness - a day or days away from work, restricted work or job transfer - medical treatment or a change in the course of medical treatment. Slide 10 - Work-Relatedness (cont'd)  Script: Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment, unless an exception specifically applies. A case is presumed work-related if, and only if, an event or exposure in the work environment is a discernable cause of the injury or illness or of a significant aggravation to pre-existing condition. The work event or exposure need only be one of the discernable causes; it need not be the sole or predominant cause. Now, we will cover the exceptions to work-relatedness. Slide 11 - Work-Related Exceptions  Script: There are nine exceptions to the definition of work relationship. They are intended to exclude those injuries or illnesses that occur or manifest themselves in the work environment, but have been identified as cases that do not provide information useful to the identification of occupational injuries and illnesses and tend to skew national statistics. Let's discuss some of the major exceptions. Injuries and illnesses will not be considered work-related if they are solely the result of an employee eating, drinking or preparing food or drink for personal consumption. Common colds and flu will not be considered work-related. Injuries and illnesses will not be work-related if they result solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or recreational activity such as physical fitness activities and voluntary blood donations. If the injury or illness is a result solely from the employee doing personal tasks at the establishment outside normal work hours, it is not considered work-related. Other exceptions where an injury or illness is not considered work-related include: - When the employee is present in the work environment as a member of the general public rather than as an employee. - If the injury or illness involves symptoms that surface at work but result solely from a non-work-related event or exposure. - If the injury or illness is solely the result of personal grooming, self-medication, or intentionally self-inflicted. - If the injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work. Mental illness will not be considered work-related unless the employee voluntarily provides the employer with an opinion from a physician or other licensed health care professional with appropriate training and experience stating the illness is work-related. Slide 12 - General Recording Criteria  Script: Employers must record any work-related injury or illness that meets one or more of the final rule's six general recording criteria, which are: - death; - days away from work; - restricted work or job transfer; - medical treatment beyond first aid; - loss of consciousness; or, - diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional as a significant injury or illness. Slide 13 - General Recording Criteria (cont'd)  Script: In the new rule, first aid is defined using a finite list of treatments. All other treatment is now considered medical treatment. The regulation also clarifies the recording of "light duty" or restricted work cases. Employers are required to record cases when the injured or ill employee only works partial days or is restricted from his or her "routine functions." "Routine functions" are defined as work activities the employee regularly performs at least once weekly. Slide 14 - Recording Needlesticks  Script: This provision deals with the recording of a specific class of occupational injuries involving punctures, cuts and lacerations caused by needles or other sharp objects contaminated (or reasonably anticipated to be contaminated) with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may lead to bloodborne diseases. These diseases include Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDs), hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Although the final rule requires the recording of all workplace cut and puncture injuries resulting from an event involving contaminated sharps, it does not require the recording of all cuts and punctures. For example, a cut made by a knife or other sharp instrument that was not contaminated by blood or OPIM would not be recordable if only first aid was used to treat it. Slide 15 - Hearing Loss  Script: A final rule published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2002 revised the criteria for recording work-related hearing loss beginning January 1, 2003. Under the new rule, a case must be recorded when a hearing test reveals that an employee has experienced a work-related Standard Threshold Shift (STS) in one or both ears and the employee's total hearing level is 25 dB or more above audiometric zero in the same ear as the STS. As previously discussed, OSHA has issued new recordkeeping forms that require employers to check the hearing loss column on the OSHA 300 Log beginning January 1, 2004. Slide 16 - Musculoskeletal Disorders  Script: As published in the June 30, 2003 Federal Register, based on comments received, OSHA has decided not to include a separate column for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) on the Log and Summary forms and therefore to delete ¶ 1904.12. This deletion has no effect on an employer's obligation to record all cases meeting the requirements of ¶ 1904.4-1904.7. If a musculoskeletal disorder is work-related, and is a new case, and meets one or more of the general recording criteria, it must be recorded. For entry on the 300 Log, check either "injury" or "all other illnesses." Slide 17 - Tuberculosis & Medical Removal  Script: Employers must now record a case when an employee is exposed to someone with a known case of tuberculosis, and that employee subsequently develops a tuberculosis infection. In addition, the new rule requires an employer to record an injury or illness case on the OSHA 300 Log when the employee is medically removed under the medical surveillance requirements of any OSHA standard. Each such case is to be recorded as a case involving days away from work or as a case involving restricted work activity. Slide 18 - Day Counts  Script: Rather than "lost workdays," days away from work or days of restricted work activity or job transfer are required to be recorded. As before, the day of injury or illness is not counted. A major change is that calendar days are now counted instead of the previous use of scheduled workdays. Counting calendar days provides a more accurate and consistent measure of disability duration and will generate more reliable data. Under the new rule, there is a limit on how long employers are required to track cases. Days away or days of restriction do not have to be counted beyond 180 days. Slide 19 - Employee Involvement  Script: One of the goals of the new rule is to enhance employee involvement in the recordkeeping process. There is a new requirement that employers inform each employee of how to report an injury or illness. This means that employers must establish a procedure for the reporting of work-related injuries and illnesses and train the employees to use that procedure. The rule now makes it clear that Section 11(c) of the OSH Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees for reporting injuries and illnesses. This is not a new obligation; rather, it is a clarification of OSHA's anti-discrimination provisions. Employee involvement is further enhanced by allowing employees to access the 301 forms (Injury and Illness Incident Record) for their own injuries and illnesses. In addition, employee representatives now have a right to access those parts of the OSHA 301 form relevant to workplace safety and health. Employees, former employees, and employee representatives have a right to a copy of the Log, just as they have in the past. Slide 20 - Employee Privacy  Script: These new protections are designed to address privacy concerns raised by many who commented on the rule. Employers must withhold the injured or ill employee's name from the OSHA log for injuries and illnesses defined by the rule as "privacy concern cases." This approach will allow the employer to provide OSHA 300 data to employees, former employees and employee representatives, while still protecting the privacy of workers when necessary. A separate list of case numbers and employee names must be provided to OSHA upon request. Privacy concern cases include: - An injury or illness to an intimate body part or reproductive system; - An injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault; - Mental illness; - HIV infection, hepatitis, tuberculosis; - Needlestick and sharps injuries that are contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material; - Employee request to keep name off Log for other illness cases. Slide 21 - Annual Summary  Script: At the end of each calendar year, OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, must be certified for completeness and accuracy, and be posted from February 1 until April 30. The longer posting period (previously, posting was for 1 month) is intended to raise employee awareness of the recordkeeping process by providing greater access to the previous year's summary. The company executive certification process will encourage more accurate records by raising accountability for OSHA recordkeeping to a higher managerial level than under the former rule. Slide 22 - Reporting to OSHA  Note to Presenter: The basic requirement to report fatalities and the hospitalization of three of more employees to OSHA within 8 hours has not changed. The report must be made orally to the OSHA area office near the incident site or by using the toll free number, 1-800-321-6742 (OSHA). Script: Clarifications in the new rule relating to reporting information to the government include: - Employers do not have to report motor vehicle accidents that occur in a public street outside of a construction work zone. - Employers do not have to report commercial airplane, train, subway or bus accidents. Although employers do not have to report these incidents to OSHA under the 8-hour reporting requirement, any fatalities and hospitalizations caused by motor vehicle accidents, as well as commercial or public transportation accidents are recordable if they meet OSHA's recordability criteria. Slide 23 - For More Information  Note to Presenter: Refer to the back of the forms package for recordkeeping points of contact in your local area. If you are not using this package, provide name, telephone number and e-mail of local contact. Script: For more information, go to OSHA's website. From the Home Page, you can link to OSHA's Recordkeeping Page for the latest information concerning OSHA Recordkeeping. |
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