United States: Congress Moves To Invalidate OSHA Rule Which Provides Employers Can Be Cited For Five-Years For Injury And Illness Records

Seyfarth Synopsis: Congress passes a Resolution to dismantle an OSHA final rule, adopted in December 2016, which despite statutory language to the opposite, "more clearly states employers' obligations" to record an injury or illness which continues for a full five-year record-retention period.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced in December 2016 a new final rule that OSHA claims "clarifies an employer's continuing obligation to make and maintain an accurate record of each recordable injury and illness." The rule had been  proposed in July 2015. In response, the House of Representatives this week passed a Resolution to block the regulation, stating that "such rule shall have no force or effect."

The bill, House Joint Resolution 83, passed by a vote of 231 to 191, will now move to the Senate for consideration. The White House had issued a Statement of Administration Policy announcing that it "strongly supports" passage of the bill.

In a statement, Rep. Byrne said: "OSHA's power grab is not only unlawful, it does nothing to improve workplace safety. What it does do is force small businesses to confront even more unnecessary red tape and unjustified litigation. As Republicans have been saying for years, OSHA should collaborate with employers to prevent injuries and illnesses in workplaces and address any gaps in safety that might exist."

OSHA's longstanding position had been that an employer's duty to record an injury or illness continues for the full five-year record-retention period. It cited to Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission cases dating back to 1993. In 2012, however, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision, in AKM LLC v. Secretary of Labor, __ F.3d ___, 2012 WL 1142273 (DC Cir., April 06, 2012), reversing the Commission and rejecting OSHA's position on the continuing nature of its prior recordkeeping regulations.

The AKM or "Volks" decision applied the standard six month statute limitations to an employer's duty to put work related injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 log. The D.C. Circuit decision affectively ended OSHA practices of issuing citations for alleged recordkeeping errors back five years.  OSHA did not appeal the Volks decision.  As we previously blogged, OSHA's rulemaking was a clear attempt to avoid the D.C. Circuit of Appeals ruling.

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