Companies will have to adapt to new OSHA rules

• OSHA issued a long-expected order to expand electronic record submission for work-related injury and illness information.
• This new rule covers several industries, including logging, sawmill, and other wood product manufacturing, and it takes effect on January 1, 2024.
• While most employers are required to maintain illness and injury logs and post a summary each year at their worksite, currently only establishments with 250 or more employees and businesses in certain high-hazard industries with 20 or more employees are required annually to submit their OSHA Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.
• Starting next year, OSHA is expanding who is covered and what documents need to be electronically submitted.
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Ammonia exposure claims five lives

• Five people were killed by anhydrous ammonia exposure after a semi-truck carrying thousands of gallons of the toxic substance crashed.
• Anhydrous ammonia is essentially pure ammonia, according to OSHA.
• Those killed in the incident have been identified as Kenneth Bryan, 34, and his two children, Rosie, 7, and Walker, 10, along with Danny J. Smith, 67, and Vasile Cricovan, 31, the Effingham County Coroner’s Office said in a release.
• A preliminary examination indicates all five died from exposure to the leaked ammonia and official autopsies will soon begin.
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North Carolina alters OSHA rules

• North Carolina Department of Labor can cite an employer for a violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina is now six months from the date of the violation rather than six months from the date that the inspection began, according to a new law.
• The North Carolina Department of Labor will have to publish a notice and go through the state’s rulemaking process before adopting any new standard promulgated by the federal OSHA.
• The change brings North Carolina in line with 22 other “state plan” states that administer and enforce their own safety and health laws.
• The N.C. budget also eliminates an exception in state law that allowed the NCDOL to adopt occupational safety and health regulations identical to Fed-OSHA without going through the public notice process.
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Inspector General: Warehouse injuries still too high

• OSHA hasn’t effectively addressed elevated injury and illness rates in the warehousing industry, according to the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General’s audit.
• OIG claims the injury and illness rate in 2021 was 5.5 per 100 employees – “more than double the rate across all industries” – and 5.1 per 100 employees during the audit period.
• The audit revealed that OSHA conducted nearly 3,800 inspections in the industry, covering 4.1% of establishments self-classified as warehouses. OIG also found that 82% of those inspections were unprogrammed, primarily stemming from referrals or complaints.
• The OGI made seven recommendations to OSHA, including the development of specific, measurable inspection goals for the Site-Specific Targeting Program.
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