Federal Spotlight: OSHA rule final

May 12, 2016

The Labor Department on Wednesday released a final rule requiring certain employers to send their records of injuries and illnesses to OSHA for posting on its website. The rule will require businesses with 250 or more employees, per facility, to electronically report to the agency annually all of the company’s injury and illness logs for that year starting in 2017.  Companies with 20-249 employees, per facility, in “designated industries,” of which the category of manufacturing is one, will also have to report annually. These employers are already required to collect this information. The rule also prohibits retaliation against employees who report workplace injuries.

The AFL-CIO touts the rule as a way to help workers identify hazardous workplaces, while the National Association of Manufacturers sees this rule as problematic. In a statement, NAM's Vice President of Labor, Legal and Regulatory Policy Rosario Palmieri called it "a misguided attempt at transparency that sacrifices employee and employer privacy."