President Donald Trump recently signed a resolution that overturned a final recordkeeping rule from OSHA. According to the agency, the rule was meant to clarify that employers must maintain work-related injury and illness records throughout a five-year storage period, and did not create any additional requirements. However, critics of the rule argued that it allowed OSHA to unlawfully issue citations to businesses up to five years after an incident, provided the violation was related to recordkeeping.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) that governs OSHA does not allow for a citation to be issued more than six months after the occurrence of a violation. Despite this, OSHA’s final rule stated that the agency considers all recordkeeping violations to exist until they are corrected. For example, if a recordkeeping violation first began on Feb. 1 and was corrected on May 15, OSHA would have had until Nov. 15 to issue a citation under its final rule.
This development is the latest step in the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses. Since Trump took office, OSHA has delayed its new beryllium exposure rule until May 20, and has also announced that it is currently not ready to accept electronic injury and illness data for its electronic reporting rule. However, you still need to be aware of your ongoing OSHA requirements. Although OSHA’s recordkeeping rule has been rescinded, employers are still required to maintain their injury and illness records for five years. Contact us at (916) 380-5300 for help staying in compliance with OSHA standards.
