Recordkeeping: OSHA Recordables, Incentives, and Solutions

TRACK: Management and Administration in OEM

Robert M. Bourgeois, MD, MPH, FACOEM, Bourgeois Medical Clinic, Morgan City, LA
Michael J. Hodgson, MD, MPH, OSHA, Washington, DC

Fatal and non-fatal injury rates appear inversely proportional, in a State by State comparison, raising deeper questions about national under-reporting trends and behaviors by industries. In parallel, advertising nationally appears focused on reducing “OSHA recordables” rather than on reducing causes of injury. OSHA has implemented several changes to record-keeping, including the new Severe Injury Reporting System, new proposed mandates on electronic reporting of 300 logs, and changes and clarifications to recordability.
The session will present a structured approach to OSHA recordability, outline evidence for poor professional practices at various levels of independent and dependent licensure, and discuss incentives and disincentives to reporting. It will then present alternative approaches used successfully in industries, from health care through shipbuilding. Finally, the session will document OSHA perspectives on individual practices concerning under-reporting as a whistle-blower (11c) violation.