OSHA is currently requesting comments for a proposed regulation change to their recordkeeping requirements. Currently, new and used car dealerships classified under Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 5511 are considered a “low risk industry” and are partially exempt from OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements. In this proposed regulation, in an effort to embrace a new industrial classification system introduced in 1997, OSHA is reclassifying new and used car dealerships as North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 4411 – Automobile Dealers. This new classification and the associated injury and illness statistics place dealerships outside the “low risk industry” profile, disqualifying them from the partial exemption. If this rule is accepted as is, dealers will be required to maintain additional accident information and post summaries of this data at the dealership every year.
Additional changes in this proposed regulation will require businesses to report work-related amputations to OSHA and all work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations. Currently reporting is only required for work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees.
If you’d like to voice your opinion to OSHA on this proposed regulation they would love your feedback on the following:
1. Should any additional industries be exempt from any of the recordkeeping requirements in Part 1904?
2. Should OSHA base partial exemptions on more detailed or more aggregated industry classifications, such as two-digit, three-digit, or six-digit NAICS codes?
3. Which industry sectors, if any, should be ineligible for partial exemption?
4. Instead of using an average DART rate of 75 percent of the most recent national DART rate, is there a better way to determine which industries should be included in Appendix A?
5. Should OSHA consider numbers of workers injured or made ill in each industry in addition to industry injury/illness rates in determining eligibility for partial exemption?
6. Are there any other data that should be applied as additional or alternative criteria for purposes of determining eligibility for partial exemption?
7. Should OSHA regularly update the list of lower-hazard exempted industries? If so, how frequently should the list be updated?
8. Are there any specific types of training, education, and compliance assistance OSHA could provide that would be particularly helpful in facilitating compliance with the recordkeeping requirements?
Comments may be submitted online at Regulations.gov
