The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Steel have settled their OSHA retaliation lawsuit over the suspension of two employees who failed to comply with the company's "Immediate Reporting Policy," which required employees to report workplace injuries and illnesses . . . immediately. That's nice, but it's even nicer that the settlement, which is publicly available, includes a new injury-and-illness reporting policy that U.S. Steel agreed to adopt and, presumably, will pass muster under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's "Reasonable Reporting Procedure" Rule, which will take effect November 1. Our OSHA attorneys, as always, have the full story, including practical tips for employers.

(A few readers had trouble downloading the settlement agreement that is linked in the bulletin, so here it is again - I hope this one will work for you. The new, improved, OSHA-compliant policy is Exhibit A.)

Image Credit: From flickr, Creative Commons license, by Jelene Morris.