OSHA’s Volks Rule Is Dead – Now What?
The OSHA Volks Record keeping Rule required employers to retain injury and illness records for five years. The rule was issued December 16th 2016 and went into effect January 18th 2017. Because of its short tenure it was eligible for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) which gives congress 60 legislative days to vote down certain new rules.
Howard Mavity stopped by to discuss what this means for you, the business owner. You may think this means there will be sweeping changes to OSHA rules. As there is still no new Secretary of Labor there are leadership voids at OSHA, the Office of Solicitor and many other vital DOL agencies. Without that leadership there will unlikely be any changes of note.
What does Congress’ Action Not Do?
The Volks rule was an easy target for a Congress eager to use the CRA. Employers should not assume that wholesale changes will now occur with regard to controversial new requirements such as OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping and the related Anti-Retaliation provisions. The reason is that the “Resist Movement” and the Administration’s own missteps have drug out the approval of a Secretary of Labor. Therefore, there is no new political leadership at OSHA or the Office of the Solicitor, or a host of other vital DOL agencies. Regardless of what one thinks of President Trump, employees and employers suffer when agencies such as OSHA receive no political guidance. It is not fair to expect career DOL management to make policy decisions prior to the new political leadership taking the reins.
Read on to hear what Mavity has to say about how you as an employer should proceed.
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