So What Did You Think OSHA Was Going to Do With the Electronically Filed Injury Information?

Miller & Martin PLLC Blog | December 18, 2018

In case you were curious, OSHA issued a directive effective October 16, 2018 letting everyone know exactly how they are going to use the electronic illness and injury records. Luckily for the construction industry worksites, OSHA’s site-specific targeting 2016 (SST-16) inspection plan does not target construction worksites.

For those of you who aren’t construction worksites, SST-16 provides a year-long site-specific targeting inspection plan based upon the data submitted for calendar year 2016 on form 300A. SST-16 targets work places of 20 or more employees and requires state plans to have their own inspecting targeting systems. The state plans are required to be at least as effective as OSHA’s.

So who exactly is going to be targeted based upon the data submitted? OSHA is targeting three classes of general industry based upon the data submitted for 2016. This first is HIGH RATE ESTABLISHMENTS. Those are establishments with elevated days away, restricted or transferred rates (DART). OSHA will use different DART rates for manufacturing and non-manufacturing in an attempt to achieve a 50/50 balance for inspections.

The second category is LOW RATE ESTABLISHMENTS. OSHA will identify for inspection representative establishments with low DART rates to address potential concerns regarding under-reporting of injuries and illnesses in the 2016 300As.

The final category a random sampling of establishments that failed to provide 300A data to OSHA all together.

It does appear that the establishments are not targeted for inspection pursuant to SST-16 are those that OSHA deems to be operating within acceptably average DART rate for their industry.

It is easy to understand OSHA’s focus on these three groups of establishments.

SST-16 is a continuing endeavor of OSHA to use technology to help provide inspection priorities in OSHA’s continued effort to help prevent illness and injuries and require establishments provide safe work places for their employees.

OSHA’s continued emphasis on technology for inspections is expected to increase as technology advances including, for instance, the use of drones for inspection. Check out the next blog post, "OSHA May Use Drones to Collect Evidence During Inspections," for more on that topic.

Contact attorney Neil Brunetz for more information on this topic.

Tags: OSHA, SST-16, Site-specific Targeting Inspection Plan, DART