Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao announced in late June that OSHA’s new requirements for recording job-related injuries and illnesses will go into effect as scheduled on January 1, 2002 — with two provisions being delayed for further comment.

The new recordkeeping rules were issued in the last days of the Clinton administration and held up for regulatory review by the Bush White House.

The Department of Labor is proposing that criteria for recording work-related hearing loss not be implemented for one year, pending an investigation into the level of hearing loss that should be recorded as a “significant” health condition.

Also, the department proposes a one-year delay for collecting data relating to musculoskeletal disorders. OSHA’s new rules give employers a definition for MSDs and require employers to check the MSD column on the OSHA Log. The Labor Department wants to put a hold on this requirement until it develops a new plan for addressing ergo hazards, including defining what constitutes an “ergonomic injury” and MSD.