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Each year, OSHA reviews and amends protocols to better fit current events, climates, and new discoveries, ensuring maximum health and safety. In 2023, there are many OSHA reviews and changes from 2022 to keep in mind as this new year begins. Here are four important changes from the recent OSHA regulatory updates to keep an eye out for.
1. Amended Recordkeeping Rule Changes
Throughout 2022, OSHA revised its recordkeeping standards. In late March of last year, they issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that covered impending amendments affecting establishments with large employment populations.
The changes state that high-hazard industries—e.g., certain healthcare services, construction, and agriculture—with 100-plus employees must annually submit injury and illness recordkeeping forms 300, 301, and 300a electronically. Meanwhile, businesses with 250-plus employees that are not classified in a designated high-hazard industry do not need to submit a 300a. Industry classifications are also updating with the new amendments.
Lastly, the rule changes also affect electronic submissions, as OSHA proposes establishments to include their company name information in submittals.
2. Permanent COVID-19 Prevention Standard
When the first major breakthrough of COVID-19 occurred in 2020, OSHA implemented temporary safety procedures as the pandemic surged. From lockdowns to mask mandates and vaccination recommendations, there were a lot of temporary emergency standards. Three years later, with smaller waves of COVID-19 still circulating, OSHA made a more permanent safety protocol for the virus. There are now permanent and more established COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations, which are currently only in effect in California.
Some of the major prevention procedures include the following:
• Mandated face masks for employees (when CDPH enforced)
• Mandated reports of COVID-related deaths, injuries, and serious illnesses
• Employers must provide free testing available during paid time
• Anyone with COVID-19 must be excluded from the workplace until they are no longer an infection risk
• COVID-19 prevention training
3. Severe Violator Enforcement Program
Workplace health and safety is a serious matter that the Department of Labor does not take lightly. To further enforce OSHA compliance and prevent violations, OSHA sharpened its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP)—an initiative that concentrates on those demonstrating OSHA compliance indifferences.
Major changes to the SVEP include the following:
• Program placement for employers with at least two or repeated willful violations
• Follow-up inspections
• Program removal requirements
4. National Emphasis on Heat Hazards
In 2022, a new national emphasis program (NEP) regarding heat hazards came into play. These regulations aim to protect employees from heat-related hazards such as heat stroke—one of the most common fatalities in the workplace in recent years. It applies to various indoor and outdoor workplaces that put workers at risk of high heat exposure, from lack of acclimatization to environmental conditions.
Staying in the know of the important changes from recent OSHA regulatory updates ensures your workplace stays OSHA compliant and maximizes employee health and safety. At Gamma Compliance Solutions, our training manuals—OSHA and HIPAA compliance kits—include the latest regulation updates. Contact us today!