Bending to OSHA, steel giant relaxes policy on timely reporting of plant incidents, injuries

Sources: Occupational Safety & Health Administration; CP staff

To settle a Department of Labor complaint alleging Occupational Safety and Health Act violations, Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. has agreed to rescind its Immediate Reporting Policy regarding workplace injuries as well as disciplinary measures against three Pennsylvania and Ohio plant workers to whom it had been applied.

Under the Labor Department settlement, “U.S. Steel agrees never to reinstate or enforce the Immediate Reporting Policy or any injury or incident reporting policy containing a temporally restrictive reporting requirement that makes it impossible or impracticable for an employee to comply when he or she is unaware at the time of an incident that he or she sustained an injury or illness.”

“OSHA is extremely pleased with this settlement, which requires the payment of back wages to employees who were disciplined after reporting of injuries to their employer, along with significant changes in U.S. Steel injury and incident reporting policies,” says Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson, based in the Philadelphia office. “OSHA and the regional Office of the Solicitor partnered to negotiate this outstanding agreement, which ensures that employees can properly report on-the-job injuries without fear of retaliation.”