New OSHA reporting requirements in effect Jan. 1, 2015
The U.S. Department of Labor announced revisions to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recordkeeping rule, including an expansion of the list of severe work-related injuries that employers must report to OSHA beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
OSHA has long required employers to, at minimum, report the death of any employee and the hospitalization of three or more employees within eight hours of the work-related occurrence. (Some jurisdictions have stricter, state-specific reporting requirements.) Under the existing rule, a multiple hospitalization event is defined as occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident.
The requirement to report work-related fatalities within eight hours remains unchanged. However, the new regulations reflect some significant changes to the longstanding requirements. Beginning Jan. 1, 2015:
- Employers will need to report to OSHA the work-related hospitalization of an individual employee (as opposed to three or more employees) if the hospitalization occurs within 24 hours (as opposed to 30 days) of the incident.
- In addition to hospitalizations, employers will also need to report all work-related amputations and enucleations (losses of an eye) if they occur within 24 hours of work-related incidents.
- These cases must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours of employer knowledge.
Incident reports can be made by phone to OSHA’s 24-hour hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or to the nearest OSHA area office during regular business hours. Additionally, OSHA is developing an online reporting form, which has not yet been released.
These reporting requirements will apply to all employers under OSHA jurisdiction, including those who are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA records due to company size or industry. Additional information about the new regulations is available on the OSHA website.
Sedgwick is aiding our clients in ensuring compliance in the following ways:
- We are adding to all of our first report notifications a reminder about OSHA’s expanded reporting criteria.
- We are offering an OSHA-specific application through our viaOne® suite of technology solutions to help employers ensure full compliance with all OSHA recordkeeping requirements; click here to learn more.
I invite you to contact us, should you have any questions about these changes. Let me be one of the first to wish you a happy and prosperous 2015.
Malcolm Dodge, VP, Risk Services