OSHA Recordkeeping Handbook - denix

PREAMBLE DISCUSSION: Section 1904.35(66 FR 6050-6060, 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[s] 1904.35 Employee Involvement....One of the goals of the final rule is to enhance employeeinvolvement in the recordkeeping process.OSHA believes that employee involvement isessential to the success of all aspects of an employer’ssafety and health program. This is especiallytrue in the area of recordkeeping, because free andfrank reporting by employees is the cornerstone ofthe system. If employees fail to report their injuriesand illnesses, the “picture” of the workplace thatthe employer’s OSHA forms 300 and 301 reveal willbe inaccurate and misleading. This means, in turn,that employers and employees will not have theinformation they need to improve safety and healthin the workplace.Section 1904.35 of the final rule therefore establishesan affirmative requirement for employers toinvolve their employees and employee representativesin the recordkeeping process. The employermust inform each employee of how to report aninjury or illness, and must provide limited access tothe injury and illness records for employees andtheir representatives....Under the employee involvement provisions ofthe final rule, employers are required to let employeesknow how and when to report work-relatedinjuries and illnesses. This means that the employermust establish a procedure for the reporting ofwork-related injuries and illnesses and train itsemployees to use that procedure. The rule does notspecify how the employer must accomplish theseobjectives. The size of the workforce, employees’language proficiency and literacy levels, the workplaceculture, and other factors will determine whatwill be effective for any particular workplace.... The prominent employee involvement issuesin the rulemaking were thus not whether employeeinvolvement should be strengthened but to whatextent and in what ways employees should bebrought into the process....OSHA has strengthened the final rule to promotebetter injury and illness information byincreasing employees’ knowledge of their employers’recordkeeping program and by removing barriersthat may exist to the reporting of work-relatedinjuries and illnesses. To achieve this goal, the finalrule establishes a simple two-part process for eachemployer who is required to keep records, as follows:• Set up a way for employees to report work-relatedinjuries and illnesses promptly; and• Inform each employee of how to report workrelatedinjuries and illnesses.OSHA agrees with commenters that employeesmust know and understand that they have an affirmativeobligation to report injuries and illnesses.Additionally, OSHA believes that many employersalready take these actions as a common senseapproach to discovering workplace problems, andthat the rule will thus, to a large extent, be codifyingcurrent industry practice, rather than breakingnew ground.OSHA is convinced that a performance requirement,rather than specific requirements, willachieve this objective effectively, while still givingemployers the flexibility they need to tailor theirprograms to the needs of their workplaces. TheAgency finds that employee awareness and participationin the recordkeeping process is bestachieved by such provisions of the final rule as therequirement to extend the posting period for theOSHA 300 summary, the addition of accessibilitystatements on the OSHA Summary, and requirementsdesigned to facilitate employee access torecords....Employee access to OSHA injury and illnessrecordsThe Part 1904 final rule continues OSHA’s longstandingpolicy of allowing employees and theirrepresentatives access to the occupational injuryand illness information kept by their employers,with some limitations. However, the final ruleincludes several changes to improve employees’access to the information, while at the same timeimplementing several measures to protect the privacyinterests of injured and ill employees. Section1904.35 requires an employer covered by the Part§1904.35OSHA RECORDKEEPINGHANDBOOK147