Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/842358
palletcentral.com PalletCentral • May-June 2017 19 workers), to submit their OSHA 300A logs in 2017. After that, the larger employers would need to electronically file their OSHA 300, 300A and 301 logs, on July 1, 2018, and on March 2, 2019 and thereafter. The smaller employers need only file 300A logs in subsequent years. OSHA had previously announced its intention to public link the establishments' submissions with the employers on-line, so the public could easily see what a business' injury/illness track records have been, and this also would ease prequalification of contractors. The industry litigants oppose what they deem "public shaming" of businesses, and claim that the data should be confidential. It is possible that this transparency requirement could be changed by the incoming OSHA appointees. OSHA has already ceased publishing press releases about employers who meet the "Severe Violators Enforcement Program" (SVEP) or who are issued significant penalties above $40,000, which was another component of the Obama-era "public shaming" campaign to improve safety and health performance. The e-Recordkeeping rule had two components, the data submission and another section barring retaliation against injured/ ill workers and declaring that reporting an injury is protected activity under the rule and Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. The anti- retaliation provisions took effect on December 1, 2016, and so are enforceable already. So don't delay in reviewing your programs to ensure that they conform with the new requirements. In addition, the protections of Section 11(c) allow OSHA to prosecute employers who violate workers' rights through incentive programs, inappropriate disciplinary actions, or drug testing programs, so even if the new provisions on this codified at 29 CFR 1904.35 and 1904.36 are eventually rescinded, this would only block OSHA from issuing citations and penalties for code violations. If employees complained that their rights were violated, OSHA could still seek relief for them and compensatory damages in U.S. District Court under Section 11(c). So, while employers may be able to hold up on the data submission portion of the final rule indefinitely, the worker protection provisions remain intact and have not been stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals to date, even though OSHA's attorneys filed a brief with the court indicating that the agency's previous pleadings in support of the rule should now be disregarded as "moot." Congress now turns to the FY 2018 Labor Appropriations measures, where OSHA will be subject to its share of the 21% budget cut sought by the Administration for the U.S. Department of Labor overall. New Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta will testify before Congress in June and that will be the first opportunity an administration official will have to explain in greater detail what is in store for OSHA, program-by-program.