The Future of Workplace Safety Amid OSHA Notice Extension

On Feb. 10, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a notice extending its standard governing employee exposure and medical records. Under the rule, employers must provide their workers and OSHA with access to employee exposure monitoring, medical records, and resulting analyses under OSHA’s toxic chemical and harmful physical agent standards.

The OSHA notice of extension will require HR professionals to continue maintaining proper record access and retention of sensitive information handling in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s confidentiality provisions and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

“The compliance burden stems from the original OSHA standard already in effect, specifically the administrative time and cost associated with recordkeeping, notifications, and providing employee access,” said Bailey Whitsitt, compliance counsel at Traliant. “That makes training especially important. HR, safety, and occupational health teams should understand the rule, know how to respond to record requests, and be clear on timelines and documentation procedures.”

Important to note is the required time for record keeping.

“Follow OSHA’s long-term retention guidance for medical and exposure records. Under the rule, exposure records must be kept for at least 30 years, and medical records generally must be retained for the duration of employment plus 30 years,” Whitsitt said.

The administrative burden of the extension will impact smaller to larger employers in their own way as they review existing compliance practices.

“Smaller employers may feel these process requirements more acutely due to limited staff and less formal record systems. Larger employers typically manage higher record volumes but often have established EHS (electronic health solutions), HRIS (human resource information systems), or occupational health systems to absorb the workload,” Whitsitt said.

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How HR Professionals Can Maintain Compliance

When it comes to adhering to the OSHA notice of extension, it all comes down to proper recordkeeping and clear communication. Whitsitt shared these five tips for HR leaders to remain compliant:

1. Inventory your records: “Know where exposure and medical records are stored,” she advised. Depending on your organization, storage may include in-house software, contractor/vendor systems, or clinic files. Additionally, make sure you keep records for the required duration according to OSHA guidance.
2. Review your request process: Instructions for requesting employee information should be clear to employees. “Be sure to include a timeline for responding. Many interpretations suggest 15 working days.”
3. Train HR and safety teams: After a request comes in, ensure that there’s a set response in place at your organization. “Make sure relevant teams know the rules and how to respond to a request.”
4. Communicate to employees: To ensure compliance, review communication to ensure you’re consistently explaining the data collective process. “Include a plain-language statement in onboarding and yearly safety training, and ensure employees know who to contact for access.”
5. Protect privacy: For compliance standards, be mindful of access control regarding the employee data. “Ensure that only authorized individuals get access, but don’t improperly block access that’s required by the rule.”
    

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The Future of Workplace Safety 

The topic of protecting employee health and safety came up in Washington, D.C., last week at a hearing on building safer workplaces through smarter technology, led by the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

Among the core industries exploring AI for enhancing worker safety include logistics, transportation, and manufacturing.

In the opening statement, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, noted that having strong safety standards in place can lead to innovation as well as productivity for a company’s bottom-line.

“One well-known example is OSHA’s standard on cotton dust. As a result of that standard, not only did fewer textile workers develop brown lung disease, but the industry also became more productive and efficient,” Omar said.

As leaders look toward the future of workplace safety, one outstanding issue is medical surveillance technology. Like most methods, it comes with benefits and risks, especially around privacy and transparency. 

“It’s important to have a human in the loop throughout the design process,” said witness Eric Hoplin, president and CEO of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. 

Hoplin shared that the four main areas helping to improve safety in warehouses are disembodied AI, predictive AI, human-centered AI, and automated-assisted AI. An example of human-centered AI is having a worker wear a key fob that alerts them that an unsafe incident may be approaching or that they’re picking up something that is too heavy.

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He warned about concerns around regulation, which can prove challenging for smaller distribution centers.

“Too much regulation can be burdensome and expensive, and decrease the barrier to entry,” Hoplin said. 

However, regulation is in place for a reason. There have been incidents of technology injuring workers from a hydraulic press malfunctioning to a robot malfunctioning. 

Another risk comes in the form of video monitoring employees for safety. Prolonged recordings of workers run the risk of capturing employee data in breach of HIPAA, such as phone calls with doctors, that workers may have to take while on the job. 

It's important to note that surveillance without regulation can also bring a host of psychosocial hazards. Fear of surveillance can impact mental health and cause employees to work at dangerous speeds, noted witness Doug Parker, senior advisor at the National Employment Law Project and prior assistant secretary at OSHA.  

Without proper oversight, the risks of employee monitoring can come at a cost. As such, when it comes to instituting new technology for worker safety, it’s critical to create a human in the loop system for review.  

Employers can review technology against risk assessment tools and instill safety security processes to monitor technology for worker safety. 

“Technology itself is not the problem. The problem is deploying powerful tools without guardrails and transparency,” Omar said. “History shows that when government steps back and we do not get neutrality, we get rules written by those with the most power.”