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Regulatory

UNDERSTANDING OSHA, PART III:

New Rule Addresses Employee Reporting, Drug Testing, Incentive Programs,
& Annual Data Tracking

BY JOHN T. BARNARD

OSHA COMPLIANCE, INSPECTIONS, AND REPORTING may not injury or illness. This rule does not prescribe specific
be the most attention-grabbing topics for many ski area oper- procedures that employers must establish. Rather,
ators, but it only takes one mishandled instance of a serious employers are free to establish their own procedures.
illness or injury at your area to realize the importance of Employers should review their reporting procedures
fully understanding and following the rules. for elements that might deter or discourage a reason-
Part I (winter 2017) of this series on OSHA inspections able employee from accurately reporting a workplace
provided an overview of various OSHA inspections and injury or illness.
requirements for the people and agencies that are generally • Does the procedure account for work-related injuries
required to participate, and part II (spring 2017) provided and illnesses that build up over time, have latency
a more detailed look at what to expect during an inspec- periods (i.e., time between exposure and appear-
tion. In this issue we addresses important new revisions to ance of symptoms), or do not initially appear serious
OSHA’s Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and enough to the employee to require reporting to the
Reporting Requirements regulation (i.e., improving tracking employer? A procedure that requires immediate
of workplace injuries and illnesses). reporting without accounting for these circumstances
This change in OSHA’s rulemaking requirements, would not be reasonable.
which took effect in January, is intended to improve • The procedure makes reporting so difficult or compli-
safety for workers across the country by helping employ- cated that a reasonable employee would be discouraged
ers gain a better understanding of human behavior from reporting an injury or illness. For example, if an
and motivation. Behavioral economics tells us that by employee must travel a significant distance to report or
making injury information publicly available to employ- must report the same injury or illness multiple times to
ees, employers will pay more attention to safety to help multiple levels of management, the procedure would
prevent incidents, which ultimately will help the employ- not be reasonable.
er’s bottom line as well.
The regulation will also hopefully improve the accuracy 2. Employers must inform employees of their right to report
of accident and injury data by ensuring that workers will work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation.
not fear retaliation for reporting injuries or illnesses. OSHA, • This rule, 29 CFR 1904.35(b)(1)(iii), requires employ-
employers, employees, employee representatives, other gov- ers to inform employees that they have a right to report
ernment agencies, and researchers will be better able to work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation
identify and remove workplace hazards and thereby prevent by their employer. The purpose of this requirement is
worker injuries and illnesses. to improve employee and employer understanding of
their rights and responsibilities related to the reporting
What are the objectives to OSHA’s new of occupational injuries and illnesses.
rule? • Employers can meet this requirement by posting the
current version of the OSHA poster shown on page 45
1. An employer’s procedure for reporting work-related (available at http://www.osha.gov/Publications/poster.
injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and must not deter html) or by otherwise informing their employees of
or discourage employees from reporting. their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses
• 29 CFR 1904.35(b)(1)(i) explains that a procedure is free from retaliation. For example, employers could
not reasonable if it would deter or discourage a reason- also meet this requirement by providing a written or
able employee from accurately reporting a workplace e-mail notice to each employee.

44 | NSAA JOURNAL | CONVENTION 2017