OSHA Sued Over New Injury Reporting Rule
UPDATES by Trey Barrineau, Door & Window Manufacturing Magazine
The National Association of Home Builders( NAHB), the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, and other groups have filed suit against the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration( OSHA) in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma over its new rule that requires companies to make all of their injury and illness data public. The lawsuit contends that the rule is“ arbitrary, capricious, and otherwise contrary to law” and that it violates the first and fifth amendments of the Constitution. The new rule requires employers in high-hazard industries, such as manufacturing and construction, to send injury and illness data directly to
OSHA, which would then post it on the agency’ s website.“ Among the many issues with the rule, there are significant concerns associated with OSHA’ s requirement of employers to submit detailed injury and illness logs to the agency for public posting. Not only does OSHA not have the authority to do this, it also exposes a business to significant reputational harm, all without demonstrating any evidence that it would effectively reduce workplace injuries and illnesses,” says NAHB Chairman Ed Brady.“ This is a clear overreach of authority as it goes against Congress’ s carefully constructed mechanism to address retaliation that is specifically set forth in the OSHA statute. OSHA has not justified any of the rule’ s requirements with any real benefits analysis and has relied entirely on anecdotal information. This is entirely insufficient and cannot be allowed to stand and potentially serve as a precedent for other agency rules. Workplace safety is of the utmost concern of our members; however, this rule is unlawful and does not serve its intended purpose of improving workplace safety. The rule needs to be vacated and set aside in its entirety.” Under the new rule, all businesses with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation would be required to electronically submit injury and illness information from OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and / or 301 directly to the agency.
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10 DITCHMEN • FEBRUARY 2017