The Occupational Safety and Health Administration may need to roll back the rule that clarifies that employers are required to keep injury and illness records for five years (nicknamed the Volk rule). The United States House of Representatives voted in favor of H.J. Res 83 which would reverse the obligation for employers to keep such records for five years. If the Senate passes it the rule will likely be reversed since the president’s administration has said they are in support of it as well.

The rule has been effective since January 18^th, as the AKM L.L.C. v Secretary of Labor (Volks) case it was nicknamed for was rejected in 2012 by the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. In that case, the court said OSHA could not cite and fine Volks Constructors for failing to record and maintain its injury logs more than six months after the last injury took place. The rule was then affirmed by OSHA at the end of 2016, intended to clarify the statute of limitations on record keeping.

Employers seem to be excited that this rule may be reversed as it would mean some of them will not be subject to fines or citations. Republican Representative Bradley Byrne introduced the resolution to do away with this rule, saying that it was “doing nothing to improve worker health and safety” and may have just caused more red tape for businesses to cut through.

The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, David Michaels, said that accurate records are important because they have a “potentially life-saving purpose”.

According to Donald Wilson, the vice president and senior loss control consultant, Lockton Cos. L.L.C., OSHA may use these five-year records to look at a company’s history and see if there are areas they could identify over time that might need to be addressed. He does not think it will change how an employer or OSHA goes about preventing injuries, but it may mean some employers will no longer be worried about fines.

This is such a recent piece of legislation that it is eligible to be overturned because of the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn agency rules that were adopted in the last 60 legislative days.

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