By Aclaimant

Feb 27, 2024

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently changed its rules for electronic record-keeping. These changes, unveiled earlier last year in July, went into effect this past January 1st. According to 

Now, employers in specific industries (including construction, manufacturing, utilities, and many others) must complete and submit OSHA Forms 300 and 301 once per year if they have 100 or more employees. On top of that, all establishments with 250 or more employees (this requirement falls to 20 employees in select industry segments) must also keep and submit an annual OSHA 300A summary.

Effects on Industry

As Gallagher notes in their article on the change, while companies have been expected to maintain and submit OSHA 300A logs before this change, OSHA now charges companies with running a tighter ship. Even smaller-scale operations must develop strategies to lower the rate of workplace incidents while doing more to track and mitigate potential hazards.

Since these changes are coming about rather quickly, it can be difficult for many safety teams to create or adapt new processes while ensuring their organizations adopt these new guidelines. This lag in spinning up new ways to manage safety can drive up unnecessary costs in the long term.

Simplified Compliance

For risk management teams, OSHA compliance is crucial when managing workplace safety. However, collecting, organizing, and submitting data can be time-consuming and prone to errors, making it challenging to stay ahead of evolving regulatory demand. Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS) are increasingly the go-to solution for a comprehensive and streamlined approach to compliance management.

The new OSHA rule requires organizations to handle large volumes of data. At the same time, manual submissions can be overwhelming and prone to error. RMIS solutions leverage advanced technology to automate data collection and submission processes. This not only saves valuable time but also minimizes the risk of errors in the data provided to OSHA.

Confidentiality, Security, and Real-Time Monitoring

Confidentiality is another concern. The new rule emphasizes protecting employee data, and employers must take every step necessary to ensure unwanted disclosures or leaks to the public. With these submissions being required to happen annually, the risk of data leaks grows. Since data security is difficult with human hands alone, RMIS solutions provide robust encryption and secure storage mechanisms to safeguard sensitive information. 

On top of this, staying compliant is not a one-time task. It requires ongoing efforts to track and manage safety incidents and regulatory changes, enabling employers to identify potential compliance gaps and take immediate corrective actions. This will be doubly important in the coming years, as OSHA's new annual electronic submission requirements these efforts will make these capabilities a must-have.

Cost-effective and Future-Proof Compliance

Traditional methods can drive loss, particularly when considering the resources needed for data entry, manual record-keeping, and potential regulatory penalties. Organizations will need cost-effective alternatives that reduce administrative burdens. From there, they may redirect their resources towards proactive safety measures and employee well-being, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

As regulatory requirements evolve, organizations need to adapt quickly to remain compliant. Aclaimant and similar RMIS solutions are designed to adapt to changing compliance standards, ensuring that employers can seamlessly meet new OSHA requirements and other safety regulations that may emerge in the future. This future-ready approach allows companies to focus on their core business while staying confident in their compliance approach.

Staying Ahead on Compliance

The new OSHA rule represents a significant step towards enhancing workplace safety and transparency. However, it will require affected organizations to keep up with the additional burdens of consistent electronic record-keeping.

As the compliance landscape continues to evolve, adopting innovative RMIS solutions will undoubtedly become essential for organizations striving to uphold the highest workplace safety standards.

To learn about how Aclaimant empowers organizations to stay in compliance and keep up with these new regulations, check out our Safety and Loss Control solution page or schedule a demo with a member of our team.