The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a final rule that makes significant changes to its Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting regulation, effective January 1, 2015. Although the revisions bring increased financial and administrative costs, the new requirements may also provide an opportunity for employers to be more aware of, and therefore more able to prevent, workplace hazards. 
Record-keeping requirements
OSHA has a long reach, covering nearly all U.S. employers. Either directly or through states with parallel agencies to which it defers rulemaking and enforcement authority, OSHA requires the great majority of employers to prepare and maintain records of certain work-related injuries and illnesses.
Those records include the OSHA 300 “Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses” and the OSHA Form 301 “Injuries and Illnesses Incident Report.” Both forms, or their equivalents, must be completed promptly when a recordable work-related injury or illness occurs. Employers must also complete and post annually at each of their establishments an OSHA Form 300A “Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses,” or its equivalent, regardless of whether work-related injuries or illnesses occurred during the year.
The agency’s amendments to its accident recording and reporting rules will be effective January 1.
Employers subject to OSHA reporting rules
An employer need only have one employee to be subject to OSHA jurisdiction. However, two classes of employers are partially exempt from the requirement to keep routine records of employee injuries and illnesses and therefore don’t need to keep such records unless they are asked to in writing by OSHA, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or a state agency operating under the authority of either federal agency.
First, employers with a total of 10 or fewer employees at all times during the preceding calendar year are partially exempt, regardless of industry. These employers were partially exempt under the former rule and remain so under the revised rule.
Second, employers in certain industries with relatively low rates of occupational injuries and illnesses are partially exempt. OSHA has updated this list of industries based on more recent workplace hazard data. When the new list goes into effect on January 1, employers in 25 additional industries will be required to keep records. Those employers include automotive dealers; specialty food stores; beer, wine, and liquor stores; performing arts companies; museums, historical sites, and similar institutions; consumer goods rental establishments; and building materials and supplies dealers. Check the OSHA website to ensure that you’re aware of your status under the new record-keeping requirement.
In addition, the list now uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) instead of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, so you will need to know your industry’s NAICS code. If you don’t know or are unsure about your code, you can look it up on the U.S. Census Bureau’s NAICS webpage, use the conversion tables on the bureau’s Concordances page and your SIC code, or contact your nearest OSHA office or state agency. If your industry is a new addition to the list, the OSHA website offers an online tutorial on how to complete the record-keeping forms.
Revised reporting requirements
Under the current rule, employers only need to report fatalities and work-related hospitalizations of three or more employees to OSHA. As of January 1, 2015, employers must report:
- All work-related fatalities;
- All work-related inpatient hospitalizations (“formal admission to the in-patient service of a hospital or clinic for care or treatment”) of one or more employees;
- All work-related amputations (“traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part”); and
- All work-related losses of an eye.
The new reporting requirement applies to all employers under OSHA jurisdiction regardless of whether they are required to maintain OSHA injury and illness records. Employers must report work-related fatalities within eight hours of finding out about them, while inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours. Only fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported to OSHA. The other incidents must be reported only if they occur within 24 hours of the work-related incident. Inpatient hospitalization due to a heart attack must be reported if the heart attack resulted from a work-related incident. Failure to comply will subject an employer to substantial penalties.
When reporting an incident, you must give OSHA the following information:
- The establishment’s name;
- The location of the work-related incident;
- The time of the work-related incident;
- Whether it was a fatality, an inpatient hospitalization, an amputation, or the loss of an eye;
- The number of employees who suffered an injury and their names;
- A contact person and his phone number; and
- A brief description of the work-related incident.
The reporting requirements do not apply to injuries that result from motor vehicle accidents on public roadways, unless they occurred in a construction work zone, or injuries that occur on a commercial or public transportation system. Finally, inpatient hospitalizations that are for diagnostic testing or observation only need not be reported.
To report an incident, you should call the nearest OSHA office during normal business hours or call the 24-hour OSHA hotline (800-321-OSHA). The agency is in the process implementing an electronic reporting system, which will be available on its website.
Bottom line
As of January 1, employers must comply with OSHA’s new record-keeping and reporting requirements. Although the changes will mean increased reporting obligations for all employers and new record- keeping obligations for many, it’s expected that the information gained through compliance will aid employers in identifying and reducing workplace hazards through more effective and efficient workplace safety initiatives.
Thirty-four states have some type of state-level program for worker safety and health. Companies with operations in those states should be aware of those requirements to the extent that they may impose additional requirements.
Information on the state programs is available at www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/safetyhealth/states.html.
Arielle B. Sepulveda is an associate in Day Pitney’s Labor and Employment department, practicing in the firm’s Parsippany, New Jersey, office. She may be contacted at asepulveda@daypitney.com.