Don your hard hats and pull out your first aid kits, because OSHA is planning on making injuries at your business public. OSHA’s new rules of disclosure will come into effect in Michigan on January 18, 2017. Employers should mark their calendars for July 1, 2017, as all 2016 injury and illness data must be entered by that date.
Under this new rule, your employee safety information will eventually be broadcast unto OSHA’s website for the world to see. In posting the injury and illness rates of employers, OSHA hopes to create more awareness of workplace accidents.
This rule was tailored around the presumption that awareness is necessary in preventing and decreasing the overall number of injuries that occur in the workplace. Behavioral economics have also been used here, as OSHA believes that employers will rush to be seen as workplace safety leaders in order to enhance their public image.
Dr. David Michaels, the head of Federal OSHA stated, “Our objective is to encourage large numbers of employers, including many who we will not inspect, to abate hazards and abate hazards and therefore prevent injuries.” The amendments in this final rule will not add any new compliance obligations and they will not require employers to make any records of injuries or illnesses which were not already covered by previous OSHA rules. The status quo may have been maintained, but now everyone will know how safe the inside of your playhouse is.
This article was written by Nezar Habhab, Law Clerk.
