Thank you to Jonathan Schaefer for this post. Jon is an attorney in our Environmental, Energy & Telecommunications Practice Group and his practice focuses on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety, permitting, site remediation, and litigation related to federal and state regulatory programs.

Under the 2016 Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses rule (RROII Rule), December 30, 2017 was the first deadline for certain employers to electronically submit their 2016 300A summary forms, which summarize job-related injuries and illnesses logged during the year, with OSHA.  Currently, the RROII Rule requires two types of establishments to continue submitting 300A summary forms electronically: (i) establishments with 250 or more employees; and (ii) establishments with between 20 and 249 employees in high­hazard industries.

Leading up to the December 30th submission deadline, tens of thousands of new accounts were reportedly created on OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application, and more than 200,000 300A forms were submitted to OSHA before the deadline.  However, OSHA had expected approximately 350,000 establishments to file submissions in compliance with the RROII Rule.

As a result, in February, OSHA instructed its compliance officers to initiate inquiries into whether qualifying establishments had electronically filed their 2016 300A summary forms.  A finding that an establishment failed to timely submit such form may result in the issuance of an other-than-serious citation, which currently carries with it a maximum penalty of $12,934.

In addition to these inquiries, OSHA will also conduct a mass mailing outreach to establishments that did not submit their 2016 300A summary forms to further inform them of the requirements of the RROII Rule.

Under the Trump Administration, OSHA was expected to relax or eliminate the RROII Rule.  Initially, a proposed rulemaking to do just that was to be opened in December 2017.  However, that deadline came and went with no formal action.  To date, OSHA has not taken any other formal action to eliminate the RROII Rule.

Regardless of the fate of the RROII Rule, covered employers are still required to annually post a copy of the 300A form.  Employers must post this summary each year between February 1 and April 30.  This summary must be posted in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted.