January 29, 2001

Win reflects restaurants’ safety record, saves industry $35 million in compliance costs

In a big victory for the National Restaurant Association, a recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) decision spared the restaurant industry more than $35 million in annual compliance costs.

The burdensome OSHA regulation would have required restaurants to maintain a comprehensive record of on-the- job injuries, and then report them to OSHA monthly.

“Imposing this requirement on the restaurant industry would have been regulating just for the sake of regulating. Given the industry’s impressive safety record, this paperwork requirement is not warranted for the restaurant industry, and OSHA made the right decision in exempting the industry,” says Association President and Chief Executive Officer Steven C. Anderson.

The NRA has been fighting for five years to maintain the restaurant exemption which OSHA proposed to eliminate. Ending the exemption would have required restaurants to spend more than 20 hours a month filling out paperwork. This would have greatly burdened the nation’s time-crunched restaurateurs. The vast majority of restaurants are small businesses.

In announcing that restaurants would continue to be free from the requirement, OSHA said the restaurant industry was one of the “safer” industries. In fact, on-the-job accidents in restaurants are at their lowest level in 30 years and declining.

Source: Washington Weekly-NRA