OSHA requires employers to report a fatality or severe injury (“SIR”). Generally, a fatality must be reported within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours. Information about the SIR requirement can be found here https://www.osha.gov/report.
After an SIR is filed, OSHA will normally conduct an formal inspection or request information about the SIR to determine whether further investigation is necessary. If employers receive an information request, it is important that they provide timely and sufficient information to OSHA regarding the root cause of the SIR and abatement efforts to avoid a formal inspection. Although every case is different, it is generally not recommended to simply complete the non-mandatory investigation questionnaire but rather submit a concise and focused position statement addressing OSHA’s questions and other relevant information to assist OSHA in its assessment.
OSHA has now released an online tool giving users the ability to search its SIR database and view trends related to workplace injuries in states covered by federal OSHA. The SIR dashboard allows users to search by year, industry, state, NAICS, event or exposure, source, nature, body part and importantly establishment name. The database covers the period January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2023 and will show data such as total severe injury reports, total workers hospitalized and total workers with amputations and provide background information on the SIRs.
OSHA believes access to such data will allow employers to identify trends with an eye on reducing injuries / illnesses. While it is true that easy access to such information may serve as a helpful compliance and risk assessment tool and also permit companies to see how they measure up against competitors, there is little doubt that the SIR database, similar to OSHA making electronic recordkeeping data publicly available, is also designed to increase compliance by public shaming. OSHA has acknowledged that visibility to electronic recordkeeping data is intended to allow employees, employee representatives, current and potential customers, and the general public to use information about a company’s workplace safety and health record to make “informed decisions.” There seems little difference here.
Employers should also be cognizant that any information submitted to OSHA to respond to an SIR case is also subject to a FOIA request and often used by plaintiff attorneys to support collateral litigation related to the fatality or severe injury. The SIR database will undoubtedly be used by such attorneys offensively in an attempt to establish a pattern or practice of negligence or to demonstrate a particular employer’s injury rate is statistically higher than others in the same industry / region or similar purposes.
The reality is the database will serve multiple purposes and employers should be aware of all of the implications.
The SIR data can be accessed here https://www.osha.gov/severe-injury-reports
