Source: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=17881
Timestamp: 2015-05-06 06:30:31
Document Index: 298565942

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904', '§ 1904']

Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements - 68:38601-38607
68:38601-38607
[Docket Nos. R-02, R-02A, R-02B]
RIN 1218-AC06
SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is deleting two provisions of the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements rule published January 19, 2001. These provisions required employers to check the MSD column on the OSHA 300 Log if an employee experienced a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD), and stated that MSDs are not considered privacy concern cases. The effective date of these provisions has been delayed since publication of the Recordkeeping rule in January 2001; consequently, the requirements deleted by this final rule have never been in effect.
DATES: The amendments in this rule will become effective on January 1, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven F. Witt, OSHA Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Room N-3718, Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-
On January 19, 2001, OSHA published revisions to its rule on recording and reporting occupational injuries and illnesses (66 FR 5916-6135) to take effect on January 1, 2002. Section 1904.12(a) of that rule, which has never become effective, required an employer to check the MSD column on the OSHA 300 Log if an employee experienced a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) meeting the MSD definition contained in the regulation. The term MSD was defined in § 1904.12(b) to include disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage and spinal discs, except those caused by slips, trips, falls, motor vehicle accidents or other similar accidents.
Section 1904.12 did not establish the criteria for determining which MSD cases were recordable. Rather, the section made clear that MSDs were to be treated like any other injury or illness for purposes of applying the recording criteria and entering the necessary descriptive information about the case on the Log. Section 1904.12(b)(2) provided that
There are no special criteria for determining which musculoskeletal disorders to record. An MSD case is recorded using the same process you would use for any other injury or illness. If a musculoskeletal disorder is work-related, and is a new case, and meets one or more of the general recording criteria, you must record the musculoskeletal disorder.
(66 FR 6129) A table in § 1904.12(b)(2) referred employers to other sections containing the recording criteria: § 1904.5 on work-
relatedness, § 1904.6 on new cases, and § 1904.7 on the general recording criteria. Thus, the deletion of § 1904.12 in this final rule does not affect the employer's obligation to record all injuries and illnesses meeting the requirements of §§ 1904.5-1904.7, including those meeting the definition of MSD in the rescinded § 1904.12.
Prior to the January 2001 final rule, OSHA's injury and illness forms did not contain a column specifically for MSD cases. The old 200 Log contained a column for "repeated trauma" cases, which included some disorders affecting musculoskeletal tissues, but also included other conditions, such as occupational hearing loss. In the preamble to the 2001 recordkeeping rule, the Agency concluded that adding a column to the new 300 Log for MSDs was "essential to obtain an accurate picture of the MSD problem in the United States." (66 FR 6030) The preamble noted that determining the number of MSD cases in the past has required close cooperation between OSHA and BLS, and the use of special computer analyses. Use of an MSD column would, in the Agency's view, promote more accurate reporting of MSDs and provide needed information on the overall incidence of MSDs in the workplace. (66 FR 6030) OSHA also stated that the column would provide a useful analytical tool at the establishment level. The preamble states, "The total count of cases in the MSD column will allow employers, employees, authorized representatives, and government representatives to determine, at a glance, what the incidence of these disorders in the establishment is." (66 FR 6030 emphasis added).
On July 3, 2001, OSHA proposed to delay the effective date of § 1904.12 until January 1, 2003. OSHA explained that it was reconsidering the MSD column requirement and definition in light of the Secretary of Labor's decision to develop a comprehensive plan to address ergonomic hazards, and to schedule a series of forums to consider key issues relating to the plan, including the approach to defining ergonomic injuries (66 FR 35113-35115).
After considering the views of interested parties, OSHA published a final rule on October 12, 2001 delaying the effective date of 29 CFR 1904.12 until January 1, 2003. OSHA also added a note to