OSHA Launches Severe Injury Report Dashboard

OSHA Launches Severe Injury Report Dashboard

By James F. Laboe, Orr & Reno

On September 4, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a new searchable dashboard that facilitates access to its severe injury report (SIR) database. The dashboard provides an interactive view of workplace injuries nationwide, excluding State Plan states. According to the press release announcing the new tool, OSHA “encourages workers and employers to use the dashboard to learn how severe injuries happen in their industries and use the agency’s available resources to help prevent workplace injuries.”

The dashboard enables users to search and sort by year, industry, state, NAICS, event or exposure, source, nature, body part, and establishment name. The database includes all SIRs from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2023. The utility provides all background information included in the SIR and summary data, such as total workers hospitalized and total workers with amputations.

The tool is problematic because it appears to be designed to inspire compliance through public shaming. OSHA even created an instructional video demonstrating how to use the new service. We can expect that at least one of the dashboard’s key users will be attorneys looking for patterns to establish the reasonableness of a claim.

What employers should do

Federal law requires employers to notify OSHA of a work-related in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss within 24 hours of the event. OSHA is using all the data it collects not only to prioritize its inspection targets but also to predetermine whether an employer is subject to the agency's instance-by-instance citation policy. Any employer covered by one or more of the agency’s National Emphasis Programs (NEPs) or Local Emphasis Programs (LEPs) is already a target for inspection.

Employers operating in “high-hazard” industries — Appendix B to Subpart E of Part 1904 — should be attentive to how they incorporate data into their Form 300, 301, and 300A submissions. Ensure that the injury and illness reports in your database meet the OSHA standards requiring a report. If they don't, get rid of them. It's also important to avoid entering extraneous details into your injury and illness records. Don't over-share.