OSHA Recordkeeping Handbook - Msabc.net

Section 1904.40Providing records to government representatives(66 FR 6134, Jan. 19, 2001)REGULATION: Section 1904.40Subpart E – Reporting fatality, injury and illness information to the government(66 FR 6133, Jan. 19, 2001)Section 1904.40 Providing records to government representatives(a) Basic requirement.When an authorized government representativeasks for the records you keep under Part 1904, youmust provide copies of the records within four (4)business hours.(b) Implementation.(1) What government representatives have theright to get copies of my Part 1904 records?The government representatives authorized toreceive the records are:(i) A representative of the Secretary of Labor conductingan inspection or investigation under theAct;(ii) A representative of the Secretary of Health andHuman Services (including the National Institutefor Occupational Safety and Health -- NIOSH) conductingan investigation under section 20(b) of theAct, or(iii) A representative of a State agency responsiblefor administering a State plan approved undersection 18 of the Act.(2) Do I have to produce the records within four (4)hours if my records are kept at a location in a differenttime zone?OSHA will consider your response to be timely ifyou give the records to the government representativewithin four (4) business hours of the request. Ifyou maintain the records at a location in a differenttime zone, you may use the business hours of theestablishment at which the records are located whencalculating the deadline.§1904.40PREAMBLE DISCUSSION: Section 1904.40(66 FR 6065-6069, Jan. 19, 2001)The following are selected excerpts from the preamble to the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording andReporting Requirements, the Recordkeeping rule (66 FR 5916, 29 CFR Parts 1904 and 1952). These excerptsrepresent some of the key discussions related to the final rule (66 FR 6122, 29 CFR Parts 1904 and 1952).Section 1904.40 Providing records to governmentrepresentativesUnder the final rule, employers must provide a completecopy of any records required by Part 1904 to anauthorized government representative, including theForm 300 (Log), the Form 300A (Summary), the confidentiallisting of privacy concern cases along withthe names of the injured or ill privacy case workers,and the Form 301 (Incident Report), when the representativeasks for the records during a workplacesafety and health inspection....The final regulatory text of paragraph (a) of section1904.40 requires an employer to provide anauthorized government representative with recordskept under Part 1904 within four business hours. Asstated in paragraph 1904.40(b)(1), the authorized governmentrepresentatives who have a right to obtainthe Part 1904 records are a representative of theSecretary of Labor conducting an inspection or investigationunder the Act, a representative of theSecretary of Health and Human Services (includingthe National Institute for Occupational Safety andHealth (NIOSH)) conducting an investigation underSection 20(b) of the Act, or a representative of a Stateagency responsible for administering a State planapproved under section 18 of the Act. The government’sright to ask for such records is limited by thejurisdiction of that Agency. For example, a representativeof an OSHA approved State plan could onlyask for the records when visiting an establishmentwithin that state.The final rule allows the employer to take intoaccount difficulties that may be encountered if therecords are kept at a location in a different time zonefrom the establishment where the government representativehas asked for the records. If the employerOSHA RECORDKEEPINGHANDBOOK169