OSHA ANNOUNCES NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING SEVERE INJURIES AND UPDATES LIST OF INDUSTRIES EXEMPT FROM RECORD-KEEPING REQUIREMENTS

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced a final rule requiring employers to notify OSHA in the event of an on-the-job fatality or work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The new rule also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements. These rules apply effective Jan. 1, 2015.

Reporting requirements. Under the revised rules, employers will be required to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours: work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations or losses of an eye must be reported within 24 hours. (Previously, OSHA’s regulations required an employer to report only work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations affecting three or more employees simultaneously; reporting single hospitalizations, amputations or loss of an eye was not required under the previous rule). Employers may report 24/7 by calling OSHA at 1-800-321-OSHA, or by calling the closest Area Office during normal business hours. A new online form will soon be available. Only fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported to OSHA. An in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye must be reported to OSHA only if it occurs within 24 hours of the work-related incident.

Recordkeeping changes. The new rule updates the list of industries that are exempt from the requirement to routinely keep OSHA injury and illness records, due to relatively low occupational injury and illness rates. The old list was based on the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system and injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 1996, 1997, and 1998. The new list is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 2007, 2008, and 2009. The rule expands the list of severe work-related injuries that all covered employers must report. The current requirement to report all work-related fatalities within 8 hours is retained, and the requirement to report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye within 24 hours is added. The open question is what constitutes amputations. There are indications that OSHA will not require bone loss. This would mean the loss of a fingertip with no bone loss may have to be reported.

Deadline for compliance. The new requirements are effective January 1, 2015.

All employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records, are required to comply with OSHA’s new severe injury and illness reporting requirements. OSHA is developing a Web portal for employers to report incidents electronically, in addition to existing phone reporting options. This is a two-edged sword: it will facilitate reporting in the web-based age, but also will facilitate immediate access to injury reports by news and advocacy organizations, which may complicate matters since reports must be made before investigations can even commence, let alone be concluded.

More information is available at http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping2014.