OSHA steps up inspections of record keeping
December 1, 2009 4 minutes read
OSHA steps up inspections of record keeping
Emphasis on nursing homes with low rates
The new focus on record keeping by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration - OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) - zeroes in on workplaces with the highest rate of serious injury. Those include injuries that lead to days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer (DART).
That includes nursing homes, which have a DART rate of 6.2 injuries and illnesses per 10,000 full-time workers. OSHA's new attention on record keeping comes in the wake of a Congressional hearing and an ongoing General Accounting Office investigation into underreporting of occupational injuries and illnesses. The Obama administration allotted $1 million for a one-year OSHA "recordkeeping enforcement initiative." Researchers have said the current method of tallying occupational injuries leads to a significant undercount.
"This NEP is a pilot test to see if OSHA can effectively identify and target employers that are underrecording injuries and illnesses on their OSHA logs," an OSHA spokesman said. "The NEP will send a message to the regulated community that the agency recognizes the importance and utility of accurate injury and illness records and is willing to expend resources to identify and correct the problem.
OSHA will specifically target worksites that have reported a low-rate of injuries despite being in a high-rate industry. That is appropriate, given OSHA's limited resources, says Brad Hammock, Esq., workplace safety compliance practice group leader at Jackson Lewis LLP in the Washington, DC, region office.
"Their overall goal is to prove - or to disprove - that there is underrecording," says Hammock. "Given that, it does make sense to look at those industries with typically high rates and to target within those employers who have very low rates."
That is a paradoxical approach for the agency, which typically goes after employers that report high rates of injury. Yet employers who aren't on the NEP target list still could feel the heat of OSHA's recordkeeping emphasis. The NEP itself says this is just "one component of OSHA's effort to address the issue of inaccurate recording of occupational injuries and illnesses. In addition to this NEP, OSHA will address the issue through comprehensive training of its compliance staff to identify and correct violations of the record-keeping regulation."
"This is an overall agency initiative. Some of the components of the NEP could be factored into other types of inspections that go on," says Hammock. "I think every industry and every employer should sit up and say, 'What would happen if OSHA came on site and did this [inspection] to my establishment? How would I fare?'"
'Intensive' inspections on the way
The NEP lays out a thorough protocol for the program. Based on a sampling of employers, OSHA inspectors will review documents that include medical records, workers' compensation records, insurance records, payroll/absentee records and, if available, company safety incident reports, company first-aid logs, alternate duty rosters, and disciplinary records pertaining to injuries and illnesses. Inspectors then "will verify that each identified recordable injury or illness is properly entered on the employer's OSHA Form 300 and OSHA Form 301."
OSHA also will interview employees under the NEP, as well as management representatives, medical professionals, and staff who participated in first-aid or medical treatment. Inspectors will even seek out records from off-site occupational health clinics and will conduct limited walk-around inspections.
"They're really drilling down to an issue in a way that I haven't seen them do," says Hammock. "In their view, that's the only way they will be able to determine whether or not injuries are ultimately being underrecorded.
"These inspections are among the most intrusive, intensive inspections that OSHA has probably ever done," he says. "If an employer on this list isn't taking note and preparing then they could be in real trouble when OSHA gets in there."
In particular, the nursing home industry needs to take notice, Hammock says. "It really is an industry that's under the microscope," he says.
OSHA also will pay special attention to injuries that result in musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). If the records show that a "significant portion" of injuries are ergonomics-related, then the OSHA inspector will calculate a Days Away from Work case rate for MSD cases, and will question employees, management representatives, and health care professionals about MSD, the NEP says.
"MSDs can be more susceptible to underreporting because of the nature of the injuries themselves," says Hammock. "Employers have a difficult time looking at each MSD that occurs and accurately determining if it was work-related or not."
OSHA also is zeroing in on incentives employers may have that may discourage reporting. "We are looking to identify any safety incentive programs, employee disciplinary programs, contests or promotions that would have a negative impact on the reporting and recording of occupational injuries and illnesses," an OSHA spokesman said.
Already, the OSHA emphasis on record keeping has had a broad impact. "I have heard anecdotally from employers that in inspections they are seeing from OSHA there is a much greater focus and attention on their record-keeping practices," Hammock says. "There have been at least some employee interviews that have been focused on programs the employer might have to discourage reporting."
The new focus on record keeping by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration - OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) - zeroes in on workplaces with the highest rate of serious injury. Those include injuries that lead to days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer (DART).You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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