As most roofing professionals know, the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration's (OSHA's) requirements for record keeping
involve more than simply tracking employee injuries and illnesses.
OSHA also requires employers to accurately log lost workdays,
understand different categories of injuries and steer through
paperwork piles to comply with its record-keeping standard.
Since OSHA was established in 1971, the agency has gathered
information about workers' injuries and illnesses using
Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting
Requirements (the record-keeping standard) and OSHA Forms 200 and
101. Unfortunately, many employers found the forms and original
standard complicated and confusing.
Currently, there are 1.4 million U.S. employers whose businesses
must comply with the agency's original record-keeping standard.
With the Jan. 1 release of OSHA's revised standard, many hope the
regulations will be easier to follow and make compliance a little
less troublesome. According to OSHA, the revised standard yields
more accurate injury and illness data and better protects employee
privacy.
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