OSHA Updates Recordkeeping Rule
October 10, 2014
Effective January 1, 2015 OSHA has revised its recordkeeping rule with some key changes:
As of January 1, 2015 employers must report:
• All work-related fatalities within 8 hours
• All work related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and all losses of an eye within 24 hours
Only fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work related incident must be reported to OSHA. Further, for an inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye, these incidents must be reported to OSHA only if they occur within 24 hours of the work related incident.
The previous rule required employers to report to OSHA the death of any employee from a work-related incident or the in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees as a result of a work-related incident within eight (8) hours. For those states that operate their own safety and health programs they will be required to adopt the federally mandated change, but may elect to defer the effective date until later in 2015. For example Tennessee has communicated their intent to make the change effective January 1, 2015, however the changes must be approved through the states governing body which could delay the effective date by 30-60 days.
The update also revises the listing of low-hazard industries that are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records. The new list of exempt industries are now classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The revised listing can be viewed at www.osha.gov.
The new rule retains the exemption for any establishment with ten or fewer employees, regardless of their industry classification, from the requirement to routinely keep records.
We will continue to monitor this recent development and the individual state plan effective dates. If you have questions or need assistance with OSHA or related issues please contact SESCO at 423-764-4127 or by email at steve@sescomgt.com.
