On May 6, 2021, OSHA issued enforcement guidance regarding potential violations of its regulation requiring electronic submittal of injury and illness records found at 29 CFR 1904.41(a)(1) and (a)(2). Under this rule printing operations with more than 20 full time, part time or temporary employees must submit the data from their OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, electronically to OSHA each year by March 2 for the previous year’s data. This year data from the OSHA Form for 2020 must be submitted. Companies are required to report even if they had no recordable injuries and illnesses. All companies must submit their annual data via OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application web site.
OSHA issued the enforcement guidance due to the problems experienced by many companies attempting to submit data near the March 2 deadline. Many companies were not able to submit their data due to a problem with the system. The guidance stated that employers would not be cited for failure to submit records by March 2, provided the employer attempted to submit its records but was unable to do so due to problems with OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application. Companies were urged to take and keep copies of screen shots to show they were attempting to comply.
The enforcement guidance also states that OSHA will be enforcing the reporting requirement and has established a six-month date to issue a citation for non-compliance with the requirements of 29 CFR 1904.41, which will therefore be September 2. As an example, data for calendar year 2020 must be submitted to OSHA by March 2, 2021. OSHA may issue a citation for failure to submit up until September 2, 2021.
OSHA compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) have been instructed to refer to OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application database to determine if the employer submitted their Form 300A electronically prior to and during site inspections. CSHOs are also instructed to perform a full recordkeeping audit where there is evidence of potential systemic recordkeeping issues.
Companies that have not yet submitted their 2020 data are encouraged to do so even though the March 2 deadline has passed.
For more information, please contact Marci Kinter, mkinter@printing.org or Gary Jones, gjones@printing.org.