OSHA invites interested parties to participate in informal stakeholder meetings on the modernization of OSHA's injury and illness data collection system. OSHA encourages stakeholders who cannot participate to submit written comments. OSHA needs to gather information from stakeholders in order to be able to modify its current injury and illness recordkeeping regulation and develop a modernized recordkeeping system in ways that will help OSHA, employers, employees, researchers, and the public prevent workplace injuries and illnesses as well as, supporting President Obama's Open Government Initiative, increase the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use the resulting dataset generated and held by the Federal Government. The informal discussions at the stakeholder meetings and the written comments from stakeholders will help give OSHA this information.
DATES:
The meeting dates are:
- May 25, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC.
- June 3, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Chicago, IL.
Written comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by June 18, 2010.
Topics and Questions for Stakeholder Meetings and Public Comments
OSHA would like to gather information about a modernized electronic recordkeeping system from a wide range of interests. Topics include:
- Scope of the data collected
- Uses of the data collected
- Methods of data collection
- Economic impacts
- Additional topics
In addition, OSHA is interested in answers to the following specific questions:
- What recordkeeping data should the electronic recordkeeping system collect?
- Would linking the recordkeeping data with other sources (e.g., medical records, workers' compensation records) increase its usefulness and/or accuracy? If so, which sources? What potential technical and legal hurdles exist in linking to other data sources, and how might these be overcome?
- Should the electronic recordkeeping system collect data from every employer under OSHA jurisdiction for every case, or should it be limited to a subset of employers and/or cases, for example based on size, industry, incidence rate, occupation, or case severity?
- What purposes could the collected recordkeeping data serve for OSHA as well as other users?
- How could the collected data be used to make national or sector-specific estimates of injury and illness?
- What would be the strengths and limitations of the collected data?
- Would publishing data indicating the number of employees and number of employee hours worked at specific establishments disclose confidential commercial or trade secret information?
- How can OSHA use state and other federal agency data collection experience in developing an electronic recordkeeping system?
- How should OSHA design an effective quality assurance program for data entered into the electronic recordkeeping system?
- Should data be collected on a flow basis or periodically, e.g., quarterly? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to data collection?
- What would be the benefits and disadvantages of implementing a new electronic recordkeeping system incrementally, e.g., starting with the largest employers or the most severe injuries?
- What training and outreach will be necessary for employers to comply with the requirements of the electronic recordkeeping system?
- How can OSHA ensure that small-business employers are able to comply with the requirements of the electronic recordkeeping system?
- What analytical tools could be developed and provided to employers to increase their ability to effectively use the injury and illness data?
- How can OSHA improve the accuracy of recordkeeping data by encouraging reporting and recording of work-related injuries and illnesses and discouraging underreporting and underrecording of work-related injuries and illnesses?
Stakeholder Meetings
At the stakeholder meetings, OSHA will gather information about a modernized electronic recordkeeping system from a wide range of interests. The meetings will be conducted as a group discussion. To encourage group interaction, OSHA will not allow formal presentations. There will be two sessions at each meeting, each accommodating approximately 25 participants and lasting about four hours. Members of the general public who want to observe but not participate in the meetings are welcome on a first-come, first-served basis, as space permits. OSHA staff will be present to take part in the discussions. The summary notes will be available on OSHA's Web page at http://www.osha.gov.
For more information about registering for the stakeholder meetings or submitting public comments, please see the attached Federal Register notice.
