The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) updated injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting requirements went into effect Jan. 1, 2015. In addition to new requirements on what must be reported, employers in dozens of industries will be required to maintain OSHA 300 logs for the first time, while others previously covered will be exempt.
Employment attorneys say that OSHA’s new rules, will create a dramatic change in the way employers are required to report their workplace fatalities and serious injuries. Under the revised rule, employers will be required to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours, and work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations or loss of an eye within 24 hours. Previously, OSHA’s regulations required an employer to report only work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees.
Also, all employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records (10 or fewer employees), are required to comply with OSHA’s new reporting requirements. OSHA has expanded the need for OSHA call-ins by employers, particularly the change from three to one when it comes to hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye. OSHA has expanded the definition of amputations, so that even the loss of the tip of the finger, for example, without bone loss, now is considered an amputation, which is a reportable injury.
It is imperative that employers know which OSHA standards apply to them and make sure they are in full compliance.
If you need assistance with OSHA compliance, contact Kellie Boysen today at 717-855-5589.