1.31.19

On Thursday, January 25, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor rolled back a rule requiring employers with 250 or more employees to regularly upload detailed injury data to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”). Previously, all employers with 20+ employees had to submit injury data to OSHA on Form 300A. During the Obama Administration, large employers (250+ employees) had the added obligation to submit additional data on OSHA Forms 300 and 301. Citing concerns about worker privacy, the OSHA removed the requirement that such largescale employers electronically submit OSHA Forms 300 and 301.

The original rule required that “establishments with 250 or more employees . . . electronically submit information from the three recordkeeping forms” on a yearly basis. While all employers with 250 or more employees were required to produce the three forms annually, some employers with 20 to 249 employees were also required to submit 300A forms. The new rule reads as follows: “If your establishment had 250 or more employees at any time during the previous calendar year . . . you must electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses to OSHA or OSHA's designee.” Employers of 20 to 249 employees are unaffected by this amendment and must continue to submit OSHA Form 300A annually.

Employers will still be required to collect this data as part of their records but will only need to provide it to workers and OSHA inspectors on request. While opponents of the amendment suggest that unintentional disclosures were extremely unlikely, proponents of the new rule laud it as a safeguard against any inadvertent disclosures by larger-scale employers. We pass no judgment on the motivation for the rule change. Suffice it to say that the administration has been persistent in their regulatory reductions and this rule adjustment is consistent with that theme.


By: Ryan Guerin


Ryan Guerin is an attorney in the Firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or any other matter, please contact Ryan directly at 813-223-1099.