Worker Injury Reporting Rule Has Companies Bracing for Fallout

A new worker safety incident reporting mandate potentially opens the door for OSHA and the public to scrutinize the safety performance of thousands of companies.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires employers in industries with high injury and illness rates and 100 or more workers to annually provide the agency the details of every injury and illness at the work site that thus far they’ve only been required to keep in their internal records.

Before now, OSHA generally has required employers to record—but not always report—any work-related injury or illness that requires ...