10 Sep Respond… Do you agree with them?

Respond… Do you agree with them? Why or why not? Explore the points of your agreement or disagreement.

There are many different government agencies that track the different reports that stem from OSHA. With the steady increase in injury statistics, those new standards were made. Through the Briefings on Hospital Safety, it was found OSHA was under pressure to keep better records and make workplaces more accountable. (OSHA rule……, 2019) Government agencies also wanted to keep the information that is collected from being publicly disclosed, such as items that may be sensitive – workers’ injuries to body parts and PII ( personally identifiable information). Although the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) may have made it easier for the public to find records that are being kept by companies, the hopes are that the companies will do a better job with recording and filing data, as well as making safety in the workplace a big issue. Looking further in the article, it can be interpreted as OSHA will be ever be evolving to include many different things including worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and more.

As there are low amounts of oversight on small incidents, such as slips, falls, or other common worker injuries, there is a proposed regulation that will address them. “While some advocates say new regulations would help make healthcare safer, others argue that pressure on organizations to report more injuries to OSHA will cause facilities to try and cheat the system, especially if government entities like CMS tie Medicare funding to statistics such as injury incidence.” (OSHA rule….., 2019) This would deter employees from reporting injuries sustained at work in likes that they will lose their jobs or healthcare. On the bright side, making injuries transparent and available for the public will hopefully push employers to have a greater focus of protecting their employees in the workplace in order to protect themselves as well.