BALTIMORE, MD—Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh this week joined a coalition of attorneys general in supporting a proposed federal rule that would empower workers and expand public awareness of on-the-job dangers. The proposed rule would require many employers to report more detailed information about workplace injuries and illnesses to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and would make that information publicly available.
“Making workplace risk information available to the public will encourage employers to take safety concerns seriously, improve the ability of states to protect workers, and enable workers to make the best decisions for themselves,” said Attorney General Frosh.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh, the coalition expressed support for the proposed rule, describing it as “a significant improvement” on current reporting requirements. The new rule would update current reporting regulations with important new amendments that call for more extensive reporting to OSHA by some employers.
Among other things, the proposed rule would require certain employers with more than 100 employees in high-risk industries to annually submit three forms to OSHA – a Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, an Injury and Illness Report, and a summary information form.
The proposed rule would also largely maintain the current requirement that employers with 20 or more employees in certain industries submit information from the summary form annually. The required submissions to OSHA would exclude any employee-identifying information and, critically, would be made available to the public electronically.
The new rule will empower workers, encourage the improvement of working conditions, and provide for added transparency, the attorneys general note. Such transparency will help state regulators more effectively enforce state labor and safety laws and address workplace hazards, while at the same time increasing understanding of occupational dangers among job seekers, researchers, the public, and others.
To increase public access to the data that will be made available by the proposed rule, the attorneys general suggest that OSHA consider requiring designated industries to post information about the availability of the data, conduct outreach programs in collaboration with state departments of labor and health, and create partnerships with non-profit and non-governmental industries to provide training and outreach.
The letter also praises the steps OSHA takes in the proposed rule to ensure that workers’ privacy and identifying information is safeguarded.
Joining Attorney General Frosh in signing today’s letter are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
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