Proposed recordkeeping rule and de minimis citation policy

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

May 15, 1996

To: OSHA Regional Offices
OSHA Area Offices
State Plan Designees
Consultation Program Designees

From: John Miles
Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs

Re: The Effect of the 1904 Rulemaking Effort of the De Minimis Citation Policy

The OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual (FIRM) provides for De Minimis citations in the event that an employer is complying with a proposed standard. This policy should not be applied to the current OSHA proposal for revising the injury and illness recordkeeping system by revising 29 CFR 1904. Furthermore, written or verbal interpretations of the recordkeeping rule should stress the need for employers to continue to use the current system until a final rule to revise the system becomes effective.

Until it is replaced, the current system must be maintained to provide nationwide consistency of the records for OSHA, the BLS survey of occupational injury and illnesses, employers and workers. Allowing employers to adopt the proposed system in the interim could result in harm to the Nation's safety and health statistics, and lead to inappropriate comparisons of individual firms with national averages.