OSHA announces new requirements for reporting severe
injuries and updates list of industries exempt from record-keeping requirements.
THEY GO INTO EFFECT JANUARY 1, 2015
Sept. 11, 2014
WASHINGTON
– The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration
today announced a final rule requiring employers
to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related
hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The rule, which also updates the
list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements, will
go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, for workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction.
"Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
that 4,405 workers were killed on the job in 2013. We can and must do more to
keep America's workers safe and healthy," said U.S. Secretary of Labor
Thomas E. Perez. "Workplace injuries and fatalities are absolutely
preventable, and these new requirements will help OSHA focus its resources and
hold employers accountable for preventing them."
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 losses 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.
Reporting single hospitalizations, amputations or loss of an eye was not
required under the previous rule.
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. To assist employers in fulfilling these
requirements, OSHA is developing a Web portal for employers to
report incidents electronically, in addition to the phone reporting options.
"Hospitalizations and amputations are sentinel
events, indicating that serious hazards are likely to be present at a workplace
and that an intervention is warranted to protect the other workers at the
establishment," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for
occupational safety and health.
In addition to the new reporting requirements, OSHA has
also updated the list of industries that, due
to relatively low occupational injury and illness rates, are exempt from the
requirement to routinely keep injury and illness records. The previous list of
exempt industries was based on the old Standard Industrial Classification
system and the new rule uses the North American Industry
Classification System to classify establishments by industry. The
new list is based on updated injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The new rule maintains the exemption for any employer with 10 or
fewer employees, regardless of their industry classification, from the
requirement to routinely keep records of worker injuries and illnesses.
_______________________________________________________________
"OSHA
will now receive crucial reports of fatalities and severe work-related injuries
and illnesses that will significantly enhance the agency’s ability to target
our resources to save lives and prevent further injury and illness. This new
data will enable the agency to identify the workplaces where workers are at the
greatest risk and target our compliance assistance and enforcement resources
accordingly."
—
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David
Michaels
The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration’s revised recordkeeping rule includes two key changes:
First, the 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 previous list of industries 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 of
industries that are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness
records 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. Note: The new rule retains the exemption for any employer
with ten or fewer employees, regardless of their industry classification, from
the requirement to routinely keep records.
Second, the rule expands
the list of severe work-related injuries that all covered employers must report to OSHA.
The revised rule retains the current requirement to report all work-related
fatalities within 8 hours and adds the requirement to report all work-related
in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye within 24 hours to
OSHA.
Establishments
located in States under Federal OSHA jurisdiction must begin to comply with the
new requirements on January 1, 2015. Establishments located in states that
operate their own safety and health programs (State Plan States) should check
with their state plan for the implementation date of the new requirements. OSHA
encourages the states to implement the new coverage provisions on 1/1/2015, but
some may not be able to meet this tight deadline.
The final rule will allow
OSHA to focus its efforts more effectively to prevent fatalities and serious
work-related injuries and illnesses. The final rule will also improve access by
employers, employees, researchers and the public to information about workplace
safety and health and increase their ability to identify and abate serious
hazards.
OSHA's updated
recordkeeping rule expands the list of severe injuries that employers must
report to OSHA.
As of January 1, 2015, all
employers must report
- All
work-related fatalities within 8 hours.
- All
work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of
an eye within 24 hours.
You can report to OSHA by
- Calling OSHA’s
free and confidential number at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).
- Calling your
closest Area Office during normal business hours.
- Using the new online
form that will soon be available.
Only fatalities occurring
within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported to OSHA. Further,
for an in-patient 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.
More information on new
reporting requirements.
OSHA's
updated recordkeeping rule expands the list of severe injuries that employers
must report to OSHA.
As
of January 1, 2015, all employers must report
- All work-related
fatalities within 8 hours.
- All work-related
inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye
within 24 hours.
You
can report to OSHA by
- Calling OSHA’s
free and confidential number at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).
- Calling your
closest Area Office during normal business hours.
- Using the new online
form that will soon be available.
Only
fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported
to OSHA. Further, for an in-patient 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.
OSHA
regulations require certain employers to routinely keep records of serious
employee injuries and illnesses. However, there are two classes of employers
that are partially exempt from routinely keeping records. First, employers with
ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year are
exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records. OSHA’s
revised recordkeeping regulation maintains this exemption.
Second,
establishments in certain low-hazard industries are also exempt from routinely
keeping OSHA injury and illness records. Since 1982, this list has been
comprised of establishments in the divisions of retail trade; finance,
insurance and real estate; and the service industry if the three year average
lost workday case rate for their major industry group was 75 percent or less of
the overall three year average of the lost workday case rate for private
industry. OSHA’s revised recordkeeping regulation provides an updated list
of low-hazard industries that are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and
illness records. The new list of exempt industries is now classified by
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which is the standard
used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for
the purpose of collecting, analyzing and publishing statistical data related to
the U.S. business economy. The injury and illness rate threshold is based on
more recent BLS data.
Who
Keeps Records
Under OSHA's recordkeeping
regulation, certain covered employers are required to prepare and maintain
records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses using the OSHA
300 Log. This information is important for employers, workers and
OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards,
and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards.
However, there are two
classes of employers that are partially exempt from routinely keeping injury
and illness records. First, employers with ten or fewer employees at all
times during the previous calendar year are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA
injury and illness records.
OSHA's revised recordkeeping regulation maintains this exemption.
Second, establishments in
certain low-hazard industries are also partially exempt from routinely keeping
OSHA injury and illness records. Starting
on January 1, 2015 there will be a new list of industries that will be
partially exempt from keeping OSHA records.
The previous list of
partially exempt industries 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 of partially
exempt industries in the updated rule (link) 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.
To find out if you are
required to prepare and maintain records under the updated rule, first
determine your NAICS code by:
- Using the
search feature at the U.S. Census Bureau NAICS
main webpage. In the search box for the most recent NAICS, enter
a keyword that describes your business. Choose the primary business
activity that most closely corresponds to you, or refine your search to
get more choices.
- Viewing the
most recent complete NAICS tables on the U.S. Census Bureau NAICS
main webpage. Select the two-digit sector code and choose a six-digit
industry code to read its definition.
- Using an old
SIC code to find your NAICS code using the detailed conversion tables on
the U.S. Census Bureau
Concordances page.
- Contacting
your nearest OSHA office or State
agency for help.
Once you have found your
NAICS code, you can use the following table to determine if your industry is
exempt from the recordkeeping rule.
NOTE:
Establishments in companies with 10 or fewer employees at all times in the
previous year continue to be exempt from keeping OSHA records, regardless of
their industry classification. The partial exemption for size is based on the number
of employees in the entire company.
The OSHA injury and illness
recordkeeping forms are:
- the Log of
Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300),
- the Summary of
Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300A), and
- the Injury and
Illness Incident Report (OSHA Form 301).
Employers must fill out the
Log and the Incident Report only if a recordable work-related injury or illness
has occurred. Employers must fill out and post the Summary annually, even if no
recordable work-related injuries or illnesses occurred during the year.
Forms 300, 300A,
301 and Instructions –
Fillable Format [PDF* 2MB]
Forms 300, 300A, 301
(Forms only) – Fillable Format [PDF* 2MB]
Forms 300, 300A, 301
and Instructions [PDF* 462KB]
Forms 300, 300A, 301
(Forms only) [PDF* 167KB]
Forms 300, 300A, 301
Excel format does not include instructions [XLS* 150KB]
In place of the OSHA forms,
employers may also use equivalent forms (forms that have the same information,
are as readable and understandable, and are completed using the same
instructions as the OSHA forms they replace). Many employers use an insurance
form instead of the Incident Report, or supplement an insurance form by adding
information required by OSHA.
Fact
sheet on who must keep records [PDF*]
FAQs on who must keep
records
