Source: MEATINGPLACE, 9/21/11

A proposal to require more types of work-related incidents to be reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will do little to improve worker safety while adding another reporting burden for employers, poultry industry groups said.

The Joint Poultry Industry Safety & Health Council, representing the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation, said the proposed rule change requiring companies to report when a single employee is hospitalized within eight hours of a work-related incident may not help identify significant workplace hazards or safety program failures.

”It is not unusual for an employee to be admitted for observation or testing and be released the next day without any treatment,” the group said. “The current requirement of reporting the hospitalization of three or more employees is generally an indicator that a potentially serious safety incident may have occurred, and prompt reporting of such events is a more reasonable approach and remains justified.”

The poultry group said the Days Away, Restrictions and Transfers rate, or DART, calculated from existing injury and illness data, already identifies workplaces with frequent, severe injuries. The group filed its comments opposing the proposed rule to OSHA.

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