The future of commercial inspections and safety audits—like so many aspects of business today—is tied into software, mobile technology, and electronic records.

As technology improves and businesses can more easily and affordably use mobile devices and software, the benefits of electronic inspections/audits vs. paper inspections/audits will make switching to them a no-brainer, except in those rare industries and situations where mobile devices are impractical.

In the meantime, a little-publicized rule change that the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has proposed would have the effect of prompting companies still using paper-based processes to take an electronic direction in their safety programs.

The proposed new rules wouldn’t affect which businesses and industries are required to report, but it would alter how they must report. OSHA wants the following changes:

• Organizations that had 250 or more employees in the previous year must electronically submit their injury/illness reports to OSHA quarterly.
• Organizations that had 20 or more employees in the previous year, and are in certain designated industries, must electronically submit the information from the OSHA annual summary form (Form 300A) on an annual basis. (This requirement would replace OSHA’s annual injury and illness survey required by the current version of the regulation.)
• All employers who receive notification from OSHA must electronically submit specified information from their Part 1904 injury and illness records.

OSHA is now reviewing comments on the proposed change, with a final ruling expected by August.

Why is OSHA Proposing These Changes?

OSHA’s proposals are in line with the trends in inspecting and auditing, as well as occupational safety in general. The reasons OSHA wants to require electronic reporting are also reasons it makes sense for businesses to move to electronic inspections, safety audits, and safety monitoring:

• It reduces administrative time keying in paper results.
• Actionable reports are generated by software.
• Analysis of results is conducted and facilitated by software.
• Human error is reduced.
• Paper use is reduced.

While OSHA’s proposed rule changes wouldn’t directly affect inspection or auditing processes, they are an indication of where occupational safety is heading.

Organizations that will be forced to comply with the new rules—and are already using electronic processes in their safety programs—will have little trouble complying. The Checker software, for example, is easily capable of producing the reports OSHA wants to require electronically, while also providing a wealth of actionable information about inspection/audit results for use by operations, maintenance, and management—aggregated and provided in report form with analysis tools.

Organizations lagging behind the technological possibilities would be wise to view OSHA’s proposal as just another example of the inevitable move toward electronic reporting and safety management—a move that’s best to make sooner rather than later.

Takeaway

OSHA’s proposed new rules regarding the reporting of injuries and illnesses is a sign of the evolution toward mobile electronic processes in all areas of occupational safety, including safety inspections and safety audits.