VelocityEHS, the global leader in cloud-based environment, health, safety (EHS) and sustainability solutions, is providing safety and HR professionals with resources to help them comply with OSHA’s upcoming Recordkeeping Standard deadline. Employers covered by the standard must complete and sign Form 300A and post the summary of serious injuries and illnesses from the previous year in a location that is clearly visible to all employees and new applicants from February 1 to April 30. Additionally, those establishments covered by OSHA’s electronic reporting rule must submit electronic files containing 300A data to OSHA via the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) by March 2. VelocityEHS’ award-winning software makes it fast and easy to log and file forms, while its expert-led resources assist safety professionals with understanding their reporting obligations to help them stay in compliance.
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For this year’s deadline, many safety professionals are seeking guidance on reporting COVID-19 illnesses. Under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, COVID-19 is a recordable illness and employers are required to record cases of COVID-19, if:
- The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
- The case is work-related as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5; and
- The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1904.7.
While this does not mean employers must record every COVID-19 case that appears in their workplace, they must record it on the OSHA 300 log when evidence of it being work-related appears. OSHA has stated that, due to the nature of the disease and ubiquity of community spread, it might be difficult to determine whether a COVID-19 illness is work-related, especially when an employee has experienced potential exposure both in and out of the workplace. In light of this, the agency is exercising enforcement discretion to assess employers’ efforts in making work-related determinations, assessing the information available to the employer and the reasonableness of their determination.
Employers seeking additional guidance with reporting obligations are encouraged to watch VelocityEHS’ on-demand webinar, “OSHA’s Recordkeeping Standard: Your Guide to Compliance.” Offered to the public at no cost, the webinar provides a comprehensive review of recent updates to the Recordkeeping Standard, current Electronic Reporting applicability and due dates, as well as best practices for ensuring compliance. Also available from VelocityEHS is its OSHA Recordkeeping Infographic, which helps EHS professionals quickly and easily determine which workplace incidents are OSHA recordable or reportable, what next steps need to be taken, and when.
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“Complications around OSHA’s Recordkeeping reporting deadline often occur when employers have not kept consistent records of workplace injuries and illnesses throughout the year,” said John Damgaard, CEO of VelocityEHS. “Digital recordkeeping streamlines the process, reduces paperwork and ensures your obligations are met. More importantly, VelocityEHS helps you get beyond just tracking workplace injuries and illnesses, and empowers you to actively prevent incidents from occurring in the first place.”
VelocityEHS’ easy-to-use Incident Management software provides a more comprehensive way to record detailed incident information, and generate regulatory forms and files for electronic submission. The software streamlines the reporting process by enabling users to generate the injury and illness summaries they are required to post on-site each February, and helps establishments subject to electronic reporting requirements to easily submit their 300A to OSHA’s ITA electronically. In addition, the award-winning VelocityEHS mobile app makes it easier to manage workplace incidents by engaging front-line workers to instantly report accidents, near misses and hazards as they occur – with or without internet connectivity – via a smartphone or tablet device for faster, more detailed and accurate accounts of reportable incidents.