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News Release USDL: 96-11
Thursday, January 25, 1996
Contact: Lola Degroff (202) 219-8151

The most dangerous workplaces will now be better identified through data collected by the Labor Department's OSHA. The agency announced today it will begin collecting injury and illness data from 80,000 employers in high hazard industries. At the same time, OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will propose revised rules for recording and reporting workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses. The revisions are aimed at simplifying the reporting and recordkeeping system and improving future use of the data.

Illness and Injury Data

In February, injury and illness report forms will be mailed to individual workplaces requesting data from 1995. The data will be used to expand on OSHA's Maine 200 program, a workplace-specialized safety and health pilot already tested in Maine. Use of this information will allow the agency to deal with each workplace as a unique environment with its own workplace problems and solutions, instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach.
(See attached fact sheet for a list of industries included in the OSHA data initiative.)

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Joseph A. Dear said, "These steps are an important part of OSHA's reinvention efforts to become a data-driven, results oriented organization."

Peg Seminario, director of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, AFL-CIO, said, "The AFL-CIO is pleased that OSHA's recordkeeping rule and data initiative are moving forward. This is the result of more than 10 years of joint effort by OSHA, labor and management. We hope that these initiatives will improve data on work-related injuries and illnesses and provide information that can be used by OSHA and others to identify and address the serious safety and health problems that put workers in danger."

The OSHA data initiative uses information from the current recordkeeping system. OSHA is also working to improve the data for future use by revising its injury and illness recordkeeping rule.

Recordkeeping Proposal

OSHA will give the public a chance to make oral presentations and/or submit written comments on its proposal to change the way injury and illness data is recorded and reported. The public meetings will be held March 26-28 in the Francis Perkins Building auditorium, 200 Constitution Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C. Written comments on the proposal are due by April 29.

Dear called the proposed regulation a comprehensive revision of the system. "It simplifies the reporting process for employers and also improves the quality and accuracy of the safety and health information available for OSHA, employers and workers," he said. "It's a win-win proposition."

OSHA officials estimate the proposed recordkeeping rule will reduce the regulatory burden to businesses by $4.7 million. OSHA has incorporated comments from labor, industry, trade associations, and other government agencies into the proposed rulemaking.

Dear said reliable data is a cornerstone in changing the agency's performance measurements from activity-based, such as numbers of inspections and violations, to one focused on the ultimate outcome of reducing workplace injuries and illnesses. He added that this is just one of many OSHA reinvention initiatives that make it easier for employers to have a safe and healthy workplace.

The proposed recordkeeping regulation reduces the size and complexity of the Supplementary Record of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA No. 101 form) and the Log and Summary of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA No. 200 form). It also changes recordkeeping exemptions for smaller employers and service and retail industries and improves opportunities for employers to automate their records. Additionally, it will merge recordkeeping regulations, guidelines and interpretations into one single reference document.

The recordkeeping proposal will be published in the January 30 Federal Register. It can also be accessed by going to OSHA's World Wide Web Home Page at http://www.osha.gov/ and accessing the "What's New" section.

Bill Ament, consultant at the Organization of Resource Counselors (ORC), said his organization is encouraged by OSHA's progress in amending its injury and illness recordkeeping regulations and guidelines. "By bringing interested parties from both business and labor together with OSHA staff and allowing extensive prepublication review of the agency's proposal, key issues were identified and addressed. We hope that OSHA and other regulatory agencies will adopt this more open process and that it will become a prototype for future regulatory actions."

Notices of intention to appear at the public meetings for the recordkeeping proposal must be sent to Tom Hall, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Division of Consumer Affairs, Room N3647, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210, telephone (202) 219-8615. The notification should include the name and organization of the speaker, the amount of time required, and a brief summary of the presentation. Notifications must be postmarked by March 5.

Written comments on the proposal must be postmarked by April 29 and submitted in quadruplicate to the Docket Office, Docket No. R-02, Room N2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20210, telephone (202) 219-7894.

Industries Included in OSHA's Data Initiative

Firms with 60 or more employees in the following industries are included in the OSHA data initiative. Workplaces in these categories will receive a form requesting data from the 1995 OSHA 200 Log, employment and hours worked. Employers should not send the information to OSHA unless they receive a form.