250230 Recent Developments in Documenting Problems in OSHA Recordkeeping and Recording

Wednesday, November 2, 2011: 12:45 PM

Peter Dooley, MS, CIH, CSP , LaborSafe, Dexter, MI
This presentation will provide the latest updates on activity and documentation about the issues related to Injury and Illness record-keeping. Employer-kept injury/ illness statistics have come under scrutiny from academic and government sources for their unreliability in predicting catastrophic system failures, and for their lack of reliability in reflecting true workplace injury/illness experience. In 2010, OSHA began year two of its pilot Record-keeping National Emphasis Program (NEP), initiated to review the accuracy of employer-kept injury and illness statistics. Thus far, OSHA found record-keeping violations in the majority of these NEP inspections, and identified significant numbers of job injuries and illnesses were not being recorded. Further, OSHA found safety incentive programs that can serve to discourage workers from reporting injuries in almost 40% of these NEP inspections. In 2011 NACOSH, the National Advisory Board to OSHA and NIOSH has reviewed the efforts being taken by the agencies to document and resolve the deficiencies in the current processes. Two committees of NACOSH are currently reviewing this activity in order to provide recommendations. This presentation will report the latest findings of the NACOSH Committee related to this important issue in Occupational Health and Safety.

Learning Areas:
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
(1) Describe the range of government programs and practices that in whole or in part use employer-kept injury and illness statistics to evaluate workplace health and safety; (2) Identify impacts of continuing reliance on employer-kept injury and illness statistics on underreporting/under-recording of workplace injuries and illnesses;

Keywords: Occupational Safety, Occupational Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Peter Dooley MS CIH CSP is a safety and health consultant and President of Laborsafe. Peter currently serves as a member of the NACOSH advisory board to federal OSHA as well as positions in National COSH, USMWF [United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities] and APHA [American Public Health Association]. He worked for the UAW International Union performing workplace fatality investigations, negotiating health and safety contract language and coordinating educational programs. Previously, he worked for Michigan State University in Labor Education. His work specializes in worker education, workplace evaluations and health and safety solutions. More information is available at laborsafe.org
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Under-reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses: What has changed and what is still needed to ensure accurate job injury/illness data
See more of: Occupational Health and Safety