The 5/12/16 Federal Register includes the OSHA final rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” which will require certain industries, including nursing facilities, to electronically submit injury and illness data to OSHA. Employers are required to keep this documentation as part of the existing regulations, but it is not publicly available. That will change when the new rule goes into effect, which OSHA hopes will help spur providers into having safer workplaces as well as assist prospective employees with reviewing the information available for potential places of employment.
Of course, there is a compliance perspective to this as well, as OSHA will be using this data for its Site-Specific Targeting methodology that it uses to develop its inspection plan for non-construction workplaces. The data that will be submitted to OSHA will help it to fill the gaps of the limited information that it currently receives from employers.
Rules are set for workplaces with 250+ employees as well as establishments with 20-249 employees in certain industries – including nursing care facilities. Read the final rule in the Federal Register.
