OSEA seeks stronger injury reporting rules
OSEA’s government relations specialist shared our union’s perspective on proposed changes to rules concerning the reporting and tracking of workplace injuries at a public hearing last month held by Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The stated goal of the changes is to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through expanded access to timely injury data by federal OSHA, employers, employees, potential customers and researchers.
OSEA Government Relations Specialist Soren Metzger gives public testimony before Oregon OSHA at an Oct. 27 hearing in Tigard.
“Though OSEA agrees with the general direction of Oregon OSHA-proposed changes … there is still more that must be done to ensure the safety of employees in schools,” Soren Metzger said, pointing out that current industry exemptions and general reporting criteria do not allow for accurate reporting of work-related injuries suffered by classified employees.
When OSEA launched our Work Shouldn’t Hurt series last year, we noted the importance and limitations of reporting workplace injuries. In industries such as construction, employers must routinely document all injuries and work-related illnesses under OSHA rules. Elementary and secondary schools, however, are partially exempt from these requirements. In a school environment, employers are only required to report fatalities, amputations, inpatient hospitalizations and loss of an eye.
The proposed rule does not change this exemption. But even if it were lifted, injuries treatable with first aid are not covered under Oregon OSHA general recording criteria. This means the vast majority of injuries suffered by education employees would remain exempt from the reporting requirement.
At the hearing, Metzger shared preliminary results of an online survey conducted last summer that prove there is a significant problem.
“The findings from nearly 2,000 respondents from 106 school districts clearly show more must be done to address work-related injuries in Oregon’s schools,” Metzger said.
Among the survey’s findings: 60 percent of respondents reported being assaulted at work and 30 percent reported they knew of a colleague who had quit their job due to violence and other behavioral issues in the classroom.
Metzger concluded her public testimony by saying it is OSEA’s “intent to work with Oregon OSHA and the 2017 Oregon Legislature to develop sufficient reporting and record-keeping (requirements) that capture all work-related injuries so the issue may then be addressed.”
The hearing was one of four scheduled around the state to review amendments to an administrative rule needed to reflect recent changes to federal OSHA standards. The final rule would require employers in certain industries to electronically submit federally required injury and illness data to federal OSHA. This data would then be posted on a publicly accessible website. None of the information posted would be able to identify individual employees.
While elementary and secondary schools are exempted from the electronic submission requirement, school and employee transportation are covered by the rule.
Final adoption of the rule changes is tentatively scheduled for later this month.
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