It’s been two years since OSHA’s revised rule for recording work-related injuries and illnesses went into effect. Time enough to get used to the new system and let go of the old. With the latest round of revisions to be launched in January 2004, it’s time for employers to settle down and not have to wonder what new recordkeeping twist they will need to comply with.
Then, in March 1997, a second rule giving OSHA the authority to request injury and illness data from individual employers went into effect. That first year, OSHA sent letters to 80,000 general industry employers requesting injury and illness data. The 2002 data initiative requested the information from 93,000 — including 13,000 construction industry employers. OSHA uses this data for focusing inspections on employers with higher than average incidence rates. Companies with incidence rates of 14.0 or more receive a wall-to-wall inspection. The national average incidence rate for 2001 is 2.8.