OSHA publishes MSD reporting rule

OSHA announced this week the publication of a proposed rule to return a musculoskeletal disorders column to the OSHA 300 log for work-related injuries and illnesses.

The rulemaking (.pdf file), published in the Jan. 29 Federal Register, revises the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting regulation by requiring employers who currently maintain an OSHA 300 log to note all of the MSDs they have recorded.

Originally announced in OSHA's semiannual regulatory agenda this past December, the move has been questioned by some stakeholders as a precursor to another attempt at an ergonomics standard. OSHA officials have denied this, stating the column was originally part of the 300 log when the recordkeeping standard was issued in 2001 and the agency had not yet decided how to approach ergonomics.

The deadline to comment on the rulemaking is March 15; a public meeting on the proposal is scheduled for March 9.

In other regulatory news, the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on Jan. 19 received OSHA's proposed rulemaking on walking-working surfaces and fall protection systems. The rule, originally proposed in 1990, would address slip, trip and fall hazards, and establish personal fall protection system requirements. OSHA said it plans to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in March.