On November 7, OSHA issued a proposed rule that will enable it to post employers' illness and injury records online in a searchable database. Not a bad idea if they get it right and it leads to safer and more healthy workplaces.
But, it will inevitably lead to unions and the media pounding several companies as the sickest or most unsafe places to work. That may not be fair to those companies, since higher sickness rates at work could be a function of two protected categories, age and obesity, rather than something like asbestos exposure.
The same is true for safety in the workplace. It is inherently more dangerous to be a coal miner than a human resource manager (well, most of the time).
If OSHA is going to post employers' illness and injury records online, why doesn't it also post the names of employee who have been found to abuse workers' comp or FMLA leave, and allow questions about both to be on employment applications?