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OSHA Issues Final Retaliation, Record-Keeping Rule Employers with safety incentive programs that don't meet OSHA requirements can be cited for rule violations per a new record-keeping final rule announced by the USDOL. Announcing a series of requirements that will begin to take effect August 10, 2016, the final rule is intended to "modernize injury data collection to better inform workers, employers, the public and OSHA about workplace hazards." OSHA acknowledged in its accompanying press release that the rule is intended to "nudge" employers to enhance methods to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. Included within the rule are a number of pronouncements regarding routine employer safety practices such as drug testing and incentive policies that may necessitate changing long-established routines. The new rule also requires about 466,000 work sites to electronically submit annual injury and illness log data to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enabling the agency to post on its public website summaries of each establishment's records. The electronic submission requirement starts taking effect in 2017 and will be phased in through 2019. As a "high-hazard" industry, construction companies are among those that will need to file electronically. Read more from the National Law Review by clicking here. Click here to read the full media release from OSHA.
Employers with safety incentive programs that don't meet OSHA requirements can be cited for rule violations per a new record-keeping final rule announced by the USDOL. Announcing a series of requirements that will begin to take effect August 10, 2016, the final rule is intended to "modernize injury data collection to better inform workers, employers, the public and OSHA about workplace hazards." OSHA acknowledged in its accompanying press release that the rule is intended to "nudge" employers to enhance methods to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. Included within the rule are a number of pronouncements regarding routine employer safety practices such as drug testing and incentive policies that may necessitate changing long-established routines. The new rule also requires about 466,000 work sites to electronically submit annual injury and illness log data to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enabling the agency to post on its public website summaries of each establishment's records. The electronic submission requirement starts taking effect in 2017 and will be phased in through 2019. As a "high-hazard" industry, construction companies are among those that will need to file electronically. Read more from the National Law Review by clicking here. Click here to read the full media release from OSHA.