OSHA's slips, trips and falls rule delay: What can businesses do to respond?

February 1st, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

Slips, trips and falls are amongst the most common forms of workplace accident regardless of the specific industry in which a business operates. Preventing these incidents and the injuries that can arise from them is a universal concern for EHS professionals, but recent decisions made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have made such efforts much more complicated. Because OSHA withdrew its widely anticipated slips, trips and falls final rule from consideration by the White House's review and approval process, actions to be taken moving forward are unclear and EHS leaders have been left in the dark - at least for the short term.

An unexpected change
Many EHS specialists, government analysts and others paying attention to the progression of OSHA's slips, trips and falls rule were surprised when the administration decided to table the regulations before moving through the executive branch's approval process. As The National Law Review pointed out, OSHA had developed, changed and otherwise considered the regulations since 1990, when it was first determined that an upgrade or change was needed. Some 26 years later and after plenty of wrangling, redevelopment and restructuring of OSHA's approach to slips, trips and falls, the rule was pulled from the Office of Budget Management's desk before it would become official.

The existence of the slips, trips and falls rule in a proposed format has long been a benefit for organizations as it allowed them to mitigate fines and penalties related to some incident reporting and inspections. Compliance with the proposed regulations meant businesses found to be at fault were only responsible for a de minimis violation, which carries no penalties or requirement of corrective action. This mutual understanding and its associated benefits may no longer be applicable, however.

"In a sense, employers were benefiting from the fact that that rule was proposed because they could get no penalties in the circumstance of a citation," said Catherine Wilmarth, an associate at Kelley Drye & Warren L.L.P., to Business Insurance. "There's a chance that with the withdrawal of this proposed rule OSHA may go harder on employers who violate slips, trips and falls issues because the de minimis violation treatment may no longer be available."

What can businesses do?
Despite all of the uncertainty and change surrounding OSHA's slips, trips and falls rule, there are still steps EHS professionals can take to mitigate potential issues with regulators and enhance safety compliance. While the rule is no longer under official consideration, OSHA still plans to seek final approval for it. However, the agency hasn't said exactly when that will happen or even if the resubmission will be a matter of months or years. This somewhat unclear implication provides EHS professionals with a way to build a temporary slips, trips and falls plan, at the very least.

Business Insurance's discussions with labor law experts revealed the opinion that organizations should continue to follow the rules laid out in the proposed and now tabled version of the rule. While there's no guarantee of complete consistency, that proposed version is the best insight EHS staff have into OSHA's desired outcomes. Compliance with the current proposal could lead to the continued advantage of classifying certain incidents as de minimis violations, although that's no longer a guarantee.

Using EHS software to stay up-to-date with changing regulations and document workplace incidents is essential to any safety program. With it, companies are more agile in responding to rule changes and ensuring that they are meeting their compliance obligations as set forth by OSHA and other regulators.