Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA finalizes rule that "more clearly states employers' obligations" to record an injury or illness which continues for the full five-year record-retention period.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced last week a new final rule that "clarifies an employer's continuing obligation to make and maintain an accurate record of each recordable injury and illness." The rule had been proposed in July 2015.
OSHA's longstanding position had been that an employer's duty to record an injury or illness continues for the full five-year record-retention period. It cited to Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission cases dating back to 1993. In 2012, however, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision, in AKM LLC v. Secretary of Labor, __ F.3d ___, 2012 WL 1142273 (DC Cir., April 06, 2012), reversing the Commission and rejecting OSHA's position on the continuing nature of its prior recordkeeping regulations.
The AKM or "Volks" decision applied the six month statute limitations to an employers duty to put work related injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 log. The D.C. Circuit decision affectively ended OSHA practices of issuing citations for alleged recordkeeping errors back five years.
According to OSHA , this new final rule merely seeks to more clearly define employers' obligations. "This rule simply returns us to the standard practice of the last 40 years," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. According to OSHA the amendments in the final rule add "no new compliance obligations and do not require employers to make records of any injuries or illnesses for which records are not already required."
In reality, the new rule's an obvious attempt to avoid the D.C. Circuit decision in Volks. It is important to note that OSHA waived its right to appeal the Volks decision to the Supreme Court at the time and thus cannot legally evade the legal precedent created by that decision.
It is important for employers to ensure that employees who are responsible for recording the company's injuries and illnesses are well trained to correctly identify those items that need to be logged.
The effective date for the rule is January 18, 2017.
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