The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has delayed implementation of recordkeeping changes for at least another year.
The changes, which were to take effect Jan. 1, included a definition of musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) and a requirement that employers check the appropriate column in the OSHA log if an employee experiences a work-related MSD.
After hearing comments, however, the agency says it will delay implementation until it has resolved issues regarding the definition. The new deadline is Jan. 1, 2004 but OSHA says it plans to publish a final definition sometime this year and will continue to evaluate MSD provisions.
The new rules also required employers to check the hearing loss column of the OSHA 300 log in cases involving occupational hearing loss. The said it has changed the effective date to Jan. 1, 2004, to give employers time to update their recordkeeping systems.