The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) filed official comments opposing an Administration proposal to place additional burdens on employers while loosening injury reporting requirements on employees.
Clarity, not confusion, should be the work product coming out of here.
On August 14, 2014, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Supplemental Notice to a pending rule to make injury and illness reports public which becomes final in March 2015. The notice reframes Employee injury reporting as a “right” rather than a “duty.”
Reporting of injuries and illnesses is not a right. It is an obligation of the employee to report; and a responsibility of the employer to record, investigate, and take appropriate remedial actions to retrain as necessary and to remove any hazards so identified.
Employee Duty
“We are very concerned that the as-yet unpublished regulatory text will actually become an obstacle to our ability to manage safety and hazard identification in manufacturing facilities,” said Rob Kiener, PMPA Interim Executive Director. “By changing the understanding of an employee’s “obligation to report injuries and illnesses” to a “right to report,” OSHA allows workers the discretion to not report while maintaining the burden on employers,” continued Mr. Kiener.
For these reasons, and the reasons given in our submitted letter, earlier comments, and testimony, the PMPA urged OSHA to withdraw both the proposed regulation and Supplemental Notice.
In the absence of actual regulatory text for us to review, OSHA creates only uncertainty regarding employers’ duties and obligations.
Furthermore, by ignoring OSHA’s own rule that employee compliance is a “duty,” OSHA potentially creates a means for employees to fail to report injuries and illnesses, with the proliferation of unrecognized hazards in workplaces across the country as a probable result.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2014 at 11:39 am and is filed under Front Office. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Miles FreeWelcome to our blog, Speaking of Precision. As Director of Technology and Industry Research for PMPA, I bring 38 years of hands-on experience in areas of manufacturing, quality and steelmaking. I help answer "HOW?","WITH WHAT?" and "REALLY?"
Speaking of Precision Blog 
PMPA Files Comments Opposing OSHA’s Expanded Workplace Rule
The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) filed official comments opposing an Administration proposal to place additional burdens on employers while loosening injury reporting requirements on employees.
Clarity, not confusion, should be the work product coming out of here.
On August 14, 2014, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Supplemental Notice to a pending rule to make injury and illness reports public which becomes final in March 2015. The notice reframes Employee injury reporting as a “right” rather than a “duty.”
Reporting of injuries and illnesses is not a right. It is an obligation of the employee to report; and a responsibility of the employer to record, investigate, and take appropriate remedial actions to retrain as necessary and to remove any hazards so identified.
Employee Duty
“We are very concerned that the as-yet unpublished regulatory text will actually become an obstacle to our ability to manage safety and hazard identification in manufacturing facilities,” said Rob Kiener, PMPA Interim Executive Director. “By changing the understanding of an employee’s “obligation to report injuries and illnesses” to a “right to report,” OSHA allows workers the discretion to not report while maintaining the burden on employers,” continued Mr. Kiener.
For these reasons, and the reasons given in our submitted letter, earlier comments, and testimony, the PMPA urged OSHA to withdraw both the proposed regulation and Supplemental Notice.
In the absence of actual regulatory text for us to review, OSHA creates only uncertainty regarding employers’ duties and obligations.
Furthermore, by ignoring OSHA’s own rule that employee compliance is a “duty,” OSHA potentially creates a means for employees to fail to report injuries and illnesses, with the proliferation of unrecognized hazards in workplaces across the country as a probable result.
Tracking Number: 1jy-8ex2-66lj
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2014 at 11:39 am and is filed under Front Office. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.