On Dec. 18, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced in a press release that they will continue accepting 2016 OSHA Form 300A data through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) until midnight on Dec. 31, 2017. OSHA will not take enforcement action against those employers who submit their reports after the Dec. 15, 2017 deadline but before Dec. 31, 2017 final entry date. Starting Jan. 1, 2018, the ITA will no longer accept the 2016 data.

According to the Trump administration’s Fall 2017 Unified Agenda, OSHA plans to publish a proposed rulemaking, which would seek to reconsider, revise or remove provisions of the final rule, in December 2017.  

Background:

Under OSHA’s Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule (also known as Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses) certain employers were required to electronically submit the information from their completed 2016 Form 300A by Dec. 15. 

The following information on electronic reporting is available on the DOL’s website:

• Establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation must submit information from their 2016 Form 300A by Dec. 15, 2017. These same employers will be required to submit information from all 2017 forms (300A, 300, and 301) by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter, the information must be submitted by March 2.

• Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain high-risk industries must submit information from their 2016 Form 300A by Dec. 15, 2017 and their 2017 Form 300A by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter, the information must be submitted by March 2.

According to the DOL website, the following OSHA-approved state plans have not yet adopted the requirement to submit injury and illness reports electronically: California, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Establishments in these states are not currently required to submit their summary data through the injury tracking application. Similarly, state and local government establishments in Illinois, Maine, New Jersey and New York are not currently required to submit their data through the Injury Tracking Application. 

Contact information for each of the state plans can be found on OSHA’s website.

Note: Enforcement of the anti-retaliation provisions of the final rule went into effect on Dec. 1, 2016.

In 2016, ABC filed a lawsuit against the final rule, which remains pending.
 
More information about the final rule can be found on DOL’s website and on the Injury Tracking Application landing page.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion.