OSHA Contemplating Changes to Workplace Safety Regulations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun to review its rule changes for 2014, a process that will affect almost every employer and worker in the United States. The federal agency recently published its Fall 2013 regulatory agenda, listing its priorities for enacting new and revised regulations for the coming year. As OSHA begins to propose new rules and regulations, stakeholders across the country are taking notice and watching carefully for a potential avalanche of decisions over the next year that could affect their bottom lines.

This is a summary of the proposed changes to federal worker safety laws:

– New injury and illness recording and reporting requirements for employers are being discussed at the agency. This would be an update of exempt industries and the rules for reporting fatalities and injuries within a certain time period, expected to take effect before the month of April 2014 after the comment period closes on Feb. 6th, 2014.